Maiden From The Future
by UltimateUnknown
Summary: Naruto has finally become Hokage and the Konoha 12 have gathered to celebrate the occasion. When everything seems normal, a girl appears out of thin air calling Hinata her mother and Naruto her father. Read as the the present and future intertwine to give both epic and hilarious outcomes.
1. The girl from the future

**The Girl From The Future**

Hi everyone. Thanks for taking interest in reading my story. This is my first fanfic and as such I'm very excited to be writing this. This is of course a NaruHina fanfic, so it will mainly cover them, but there may be story elements covering some of the other characters as well. I hope you will enjoy.

I think you already know this but just to get them out of the way:

_Italics_ indicate someone is thinking in their mind.

**Bold** indicates Kyuubi talking.

Finally I will say this now even though the whole world knows it: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and this is just a fanfic.

* * *

It had been a week since Naruto finally achieved his lifelong dream. He had become hokage. He first gained widespread recognition as a hero of the hidden leaf village when he single-handedly defeated Pain during the invasion. But that was only the icing on the cake; Naruto had since then become a hero across the entire ninja world when he stopped Madara's moon eye plan with the help of his allies. In fact he had become more than just a hero and more of a legend. Wherever he went, he was recognised and revered by almost everyone. Due to his longstanding efforts of uniting the ninja villages, he was the prime candidate to take the title of the hokage, one who would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for the villagers.

And with that, the konoha 12 were gathered at a restaurant to celebrate this once in a lifetime occasion. Sai was also present. They were all grown up now, all in their mid-twenties and were some of the strongest shinobi in the hidden leaf village. Everyone was gathered around a gigantic oval shaped turntable, so the food could be passed around with ease. The only problem, the guest of honour was nowhere to be seen.

"What the heck man? We have been waiting an hour already yet there is no sign of him." Kiba snapped his chopsticks pressing them a tad bit too hard on the table at a 45 degree angle. He was clearly irritated.

"Why do the chopsticks suffer the wrath?" Tenten tried to uplift the mood with a joke but to no avail.

"Yea I have to agree with Kiba there. Not even my worst enemies have inflicted this kind of inhumane torture on me, having to wait an hour in a restaurant without any food." Chouji said rubbing his belly with a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

The rest of the crew sweat-dropped at the remark, not knowing how to respond.

Shikamaru although finding this development troublesome as always, had to comment. "Okay you two calm down; Naruto has just become hokage. I'm sure he's finding out about now that the title of hokage comes as a package deal. Yes you are adored by everyone and their grandmas, but the sheer amount of paperwork involved would drive any sane man crazy. And believe me I would know, working as his advisor this past week has been bad enough. I'm sure you have something to add to his defence Sakura." Shikamaru said casually looking over to Sakura.

The attention of the crew now diverted to Sakura, which was a relief to Shikamaru since he never really liked too much attention, especially of a big audience.

Sakura was caught a bit off guard since she was deep in her own thoughts but quickly regained composure. "Yes what Shikamaru says is true, I have been his personal assistant for this past week as well, and boy we needed an entire day to sort out all the flowers and paperworks he received. That poor baka was on the verge of tears by the end of his third day. From the fourth day onwards he was devoid of all emotions reading and signing countless treaties, contracts and whatnot that a hokage has to do. He looked almost like a robot." Even Sakura who was normally hard on Naruto felt sorry for him, indicated by the sad smile on her face while explaining the situation.

"We should be compassionate towards our new leader." Both Neji and Shino exclaimed in unison with their trademark neutral expressions. They both looked at each other with a slight hint of surprise, one that would be missed by the untrained eye but quickly regained their original expressions in almost the blink of an eye.

This change though was not missed by their companions, one of whom had to comment. "Wow did I just see the two most stoic individuals defend their new leader?" Ino said with a mischievous grin. "Naruto hasn't been hokage for a week and he's already working his magic it seems."

"There's no magic; I am simply looking out for a fellow shinobi who is doing his best at his newly appointed position despite being overwhelmed by the inherent responsibilities." Neji replied with his eyes closed.

At this point Lee had been quiet for too long. His burning soul could no longer allow him to stay put while his friend was under heat, and so he stood up to shout his defence. "Truly my teammate says nothing but the truth. Naruto-kun would NEVER give up a chance to spend time with his fellow youthful allies. I can bet my own youth on it."

Tenten and Neji who were both sitting on either side of Lee grabbed a hold of his shoulders from both sides and pulled him back down to his seat. They both wished Lee wouldn't get so heated up in every conversation.

"It's okay Lee, we know. Plus there is ramen on the menu; he wouldn't miss the occasion even if his life depended on it. Wouldn't you agree Sasuke-kun?" Sakura nudged Sasuke who was firmly seated next to her with a frown on his face.

"Whatever that dobe does is none of my business, but if he is any more late then I will have to take my leave. Why did I even agree to come here in this first place? I knew this was a stupid idea." Even though Sasuke did not like waiting, he felt happy for his friend's success. The same friend who had risked his own life to save him from the clutches of darkness and never gave up on him even when the whole world saw him as a traitorous villain. Naruto was the only person who truly understood him, but of course he would never admit that in public, not in a million years.

"Now now Sasuke-kun, surely you want to celebrate the achievement of your best friend." Sakura replied with a persuasive tone.

"No I don't. I only came because that dobe said he would assign me babysitting missions for the next year if I didn't show up. And he is NOT my best friend." Sasuke said in denial.

"Yes he is." Sakura was now playing with Sasuke.

"No he's NOT; he's just an idiot." Sasuke was not about to give up to his teammate.

"Ok forehead, cut it out. This is going nowhere." Ino sighed.

"Indeed, Sasuke-kun would never agree to it but we all know his true feelings." Sai said with a forced smile.

While the witty banter was going back and forth among most of the Konoha 12, a young indigo haired hyuuga girl was lost in her own sad world at the corner of the table. Hinata could not wait to see Naruto; her Naruto-kun who she had rooted for and believed in even during the time when most people hated him. In a sense Hinata was the only person who had stuck with Naruto since the very beginning when others despised him. Even when no one believed he could ever achieve greatness, Hinata knew intrinsically that Naruto would prove them all wrong. And prove them wrong he did. Hinata felt a warm sense of achievement for believing in Naruto, seeing him come so far and achieving his dream. This in turn gave her hope and made her try even harder to achieve her own ambitions. But to her dismay the more Naruto climbed higher, the more the distance between them increased. It felt to her now that her biggest aspiration would never be fulfilled. Naruto would never even look at her let alone acknowledge her love. It was truly a sad predicament.

Some more time flew by as everyone waited impatiently for Naruto, continuing on with their casual conversation. Hinata was also tired of waiting and her insecurities were now getting the better of her. She closed her eyes to be surrounded by the comforting darkness and to rest her mind. But suddenly there was a light that radiated outwards from the middle of that darkness. Hinata startled opened her eyes only to find that the light was directly in front of her on the opposite side of the table. The light was blinding which caused everyone to all duck to cover thinking it might be an explosion set off by some unknown enemy. A few moments passed as they all braced for impact with eyes closed and hands to their ears, but nothing happened. So they all got back up to survey the situation, only to find a little girl now on her knees, looking down with her eyes closed at the place where the light was a few seconds ago.

As she looked up, her features became more prominent. She had beautiful flowing hair reminiscent of Hinata's but only blond. She seemed to be about 6 or 7 years old. Her clothes resembled the traditional Hyuuga's wardrobe, but the shirt she wore was a faint pink colour unlike the usual white colour, with a large red whirlpool that swirled around the back of her shirt. Matching her shirt were dark blue, borderline black pants. She was also adorned with a light orange silk scarf with two small red spirals sewed at the ends. Finally as she opened her eyes, one could clearly see proof of the Hyuuga's bloodline, the byakugan. She also seemed to have tears in her eyes.

The first person the girl saw as she opened her eyes was Hinata and within a flash she ran into Hinata's laps shouting "Mommy" as everyone gasped in surprise. Hinata herself did not know what to think or say.

"Mommy, daddy said he was going to sleep and told me to come to you. He also gave me this." The girl held a triple-edged kunai up in her hands. "Wait mommy, why do you look a bit different and why is everyone here? Is this a party?" The girl now smiled happily looking at everyone, no longer crying.

The room was silent; no one could believe what was happening. Hinata tried to open her mouth to speak but the only thing that came out was a ruffled squeak. Seeing the little Hyuuga girl, Neji thought surely he would know the girl if she was indeed a Hyuuga. So he had to investigate the situation.

"I'm sorry little miss but you must be mistaken; she can't be your mother unless Hinata-sama you…" Neji trailed off not wanting to say the rest out loud in public. Hinata got the message and violently shook her head left to right. Neji was somewhat relieved even though he knew his cousin was not that kind of lady. But the question still remained: Why did the girl have Byakugan?

"But mommy is mommy uncle Neji." The girl looked at Neji with a questioning face.

Neji's eyes widened. _"She just called me uncle Neji, and she knows my name." Neji thought inwardly. "And she's soooo cute; I always wanted to be called uncle. Wait what the heck am I thinking? Now's not the time."_

"Did you just call him uncle? Do you know him?" Tenten questioned the little girl with a look of awe.

"Of course I know him aunt Tenten; he's the best uncle in the whole world."

_"AWWWW YEAAAAH! Wait what?" Neji kicked himself in his mind._

"Why is everyone pretending to not know me? Is this a game because I also want to play?" The girl laughed joyously.

Tenten and the rest were in shock. Not only did the girl say she was Hinata's daughter but she definitely knew them all.

"What exactly is going on and how did she even get here?" Kiba couldn't hold his questions in any longer.

Shikamaru was rubbing his head. This situation was getting troublesome and fast. He had a slight hint of what may have happened but to confirm his suspicion he went ahead and asked, "Can you tell us your name?"

"I'm Yuhi of course; Yuhi Uzumaki." The girl said with a smile.

Shikamaru immediately face-palmed as he explained, "I know this may sound crazy but I think this girl is from the future."

Everyone's jaw literally dropped. Hinata's brain took a few seconds to process the information. She called her mother, she had the byakugan, she's from the future and her last name was Uzumaki. There was only one Uzumaki in this village. At this thought her world did a complete 360 and she was just about to pass out, only to be stopped the sound of the door opening.

"Did anyone just call my name?" Naruto walked in with a smile on his face.

"DADDY!" Yuhi shouted.

The night had only just begun.

* * *

So this is the first chapter. Please do let me know how you liked it. I would love to read your review especially given it's my first fanfic. Any constructive criticism is also gladly appreciated since I am always up to improving myself.

The next chapter is already in the works and it should be up very shortly. I also have a pretty good outline of the following chapters and have a solid idea of how the story will go. I will say this though, the story will mostly be about the future from which the girl came from but you will find more about it in the next chapter.

Thanks again for reading and please please please leave a review. I will truly appreciate it be it negative or positive. Well positive is of course better lol ;)

Anyway I will catch you in the next chapter.


	2. Knowledge of the unknown

**Knowledge Of The Unknown**

The update is here already! I'm sure no one will complain…..I hope. I have to say thank you to everyone who read the story. Even more so to the kind reviewers who have left me such awesome remarks. Love it all! In fact I'm going to reply to a few:

**Guest (First review)**: Although you don't have an account, you were the first reviewer and for that I have to thank you. I'm glad you find that the story is unique but I don't think a time-travel Naruhina story is the first. But even though the concept is not unique in itself, I will try to make the story as interesting as possible.

**imsabbel**: Thanks. You will find out more about the circumstances around the time travel later on in the story. Although well done on picking up on the kunai.

**adngo714**: You are right, he can use shadow clones to do the paper work but I didn't really pay much attention to that since the paper works don't really have anything to do with the plot. I just wanted to make Naruto appear busy with his new hokage duties, and what better task than the hated paper works right?

**Azuredragon27**: Wow you have written one of the most appraising reviews I have received. I hope my story can live up to your praise.

**Hinatagirl0805**: Glad you liked the story and the idea. Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.

I would love to reply to all of your reviews, but that might take up almost close to the entire length of the chapter lol. So just know that I read all the reviews and loved them all.

* * *

"Daddy!" Yuhi shouted as she ran over to Naruto and gave him a hug.

Naruto was dumbstruck. He had just had one of the most harrowing days of his life and now some random girl was calling him dad. Either he had started hallucinating or this was one of the cruelest jokes played against him ever. Both seemed very plausible.

Naruto looked down at the girl who was now stuck to his abdomen. "Okay now enough with the joke guys; who is this girl? Judging from her eyes she seems to be a Hyuuga, so was it you who thought this up Neji? I always knew you had the making of a true prankster in you; only just needed some encouragement, but now is not a good time."

Before Neji could even say anything Yuhi looked up to Naruto, "Daddy I thought you said you were going to sleep for a while but I guess you decided to come join us after all. By the way, why did I suddenly appear at this place after you gave this to me?" Yuhi held up the three-pronged kunai once again for everyone to see.

"Umm I think that's enough now, was it Yuhi you said your name was? I know this is just a prank, so there's no need to elaborate. I wasn't sleeping until now; I was at a meeting with the kazekage and his council which ran a little too late. Well I will agree though that I was feeling rather sleepy at the meeting. I really don't think I'll ever get used to all these political and diplomatic talks. Anyway that's beside the point. So Yuhi since you are here how about we stop this game and enjoy the meal; I'm starving." Naruto was about to move the girl off him when he realised she was on the verge of years.

"Wait why are you crying? Don't tell me it was me. The last thing I want to do is make a little girl cry right after I become hokage." Naruto was feeling very uncomfortable.

"But…but daddy *sniff*. Why are you all *sniff* pretending to not know me? I thought this *sniff* was a joke too but now I'm scared." Yuhi was now fully in tears.

"Oh no. Wait did she just say you guys pretended not to know her as well? She seems a bit too serious for this to be a prank." Naruto looked up questioningly towards the others who all had very serious expressions on their faces.

Shikamaru had no choice now but to let Naruto know what was going on, "Ok Naruto, I know this may sound crazy but we aren't playing a prank. From all the information we have gathered so far, it appears to be that this girl is from the future."

Naruto's jaw dropped downwards, "What the frig? You have got to be kidding me."

"Yeah that's what I thought as well", Kiba nodded. "Good reaction man, good reaction."

Sakura seeing the disarray now spoke up, "No Naruto he's serious. We have good reason to believe so. Yuhi-chan just materialised out of nowhere in front of us moments ago."

"Wow I have heard of some crazy jutsus in my day but this one's a doozy. So if she is from the future and I am her father, any idea who her mother is? Judging from her eyes I would guess she's a Hyuuga since I obviously don't have the Byakugan. But who among the Hyuuga would want to marry me?"

Everyone face-palmed in unison at his question and Hinata was now almost at the verge of tears.

"BAKA!" Sakura screamed bringing her fist down at Naruto's head like a hammer knocking him straight down to the floor.

"Ouch Sakura-chan. What was that for?" Naruto said as he rubbed the bulge that formed in his head where Sakura hit him.

"That's for being oblivious to the most obvious thing in the entire universe. And how could you forget her confession like that. I thought becoming hokage you would be smarter, but no you are the same idiot you always were." Sakura replied angrily.

"Our future is grim I tell you with him as the leader." Tenten chimed in.

"Hey now I don't really remember. I never really considered myself to be the target of many female admirers, well at least until I was officially announced to be the sixth hokage anyway. Even then I don't think I remember any Hyuuga being among those admirers."

Hinata now just burst into tears and everyone cringed at the sight. How could someone be this oblivious?

"Just tell the dobe. I have had enough girls crying for one day." Sasuke requested with distaste in his face.

"Daddy why are you making mommy cry?" Yuhi questioned with an angry look on her face.

"Naruto she's right. It's obvious to everyone that Hinata is the mother of the child. She's your future wife and she's always been in love with you ever since we were in the academy." Ino explained with a sad tone.

Naruto's jaw this time dropped straight to the floor. "What the double frig?"

"No that's not what I expected. Bad reaction man, bad reaction." Kiba said curtly shaking his head left to right with his arms folded across his chest.

"Wait so Hinata-chan is my future wife and this girl Yuhi-chan is my future daughter?" Naruto asked to whoever would answer.

"It does seem that way dobe." Sasuke replied with an expressionless face.

"SCORE! What did I tell ya Sasuke-teme? You said no woman would ever marry me but it seems I landed myself a hottie AND I have like the cutest daughter ever." Naruto now picked up Yuhi and swung her around in joy.

Sasuke looked away in defeat; he had to agree that Naruto's future family was looking pretty slick. On the other hand, Hinata went from crying to hyperventilating. Naruto had called her a "hottie" and he seemed to really like the prospect of starting a family with her. She had a happiness overload.

"Hinata-sama, calm yourself. I can understand your joy but if this continues you are going to pass out." Neji said while holding Hinata's shoulder to help her from falling over.

"This is great and all but how did you get here Yuhi-chan?" Naruto asked with Yuhi still in his arms. "More importantly, how is the future like? Am I a great hokage or what?"

"I don't know what you mean daddy but you are awesome as always. Me, you and mommy all live happily in our house towards the edge of the village. We go to the park nearby to play together and have picnics in the forest around the village. We do ninja training together although grandpa Hiashi is a bit too strict as he tells me I will be the new leader of the Hyuuga clan and the hokage someday. But I know he still loves me."

"For some reason I am not surprised at Hiashi-sama's response. He seems just like the type of grandfather who would expect nothing short of greatness from his grandchildren." Neji explained.

"Tell me about it." Tenten replied.

"Oh and uncle Neji is the best. I love him so much." Yuhi looked over to Neji with a huge smile on her face.

Those words dug into Neji like a sharpened spear on to a piece of cotton. He was on cloud nine. Neji looked over at Yuhi with a rather prominent smile, one that was seen rarely. "Can you please explain more on that last comment, Yu-Yuhi-chan?" asked Neji.

"Is it just me or is Neji-san a bit too enthusiastic about this? If you ask me, he seems a bit creepy." Sai stated bluntly.

"Hey don't call uncle Neji creepy; he is the best." Yuhi called out. "He and aunt Tenten always play with me, take me to the park and buy we candy. We are like a second family after mom and dad. Uncle Neji also helps me train when grandpa's training gets tough."

"Hmm, from how she talks it seems we might be more than just teammates in the future Neji." Tenten poked Neji across Lee with her index finger with a mischievous grin, which made Neji blush a crimson red.

"You seem to like your uncle Neji a lot Yuhi-chan, but who's better? Daddy or him?" Naruto asked smiling.

"That's a hard question because you are both awesome." Yuhi replied with her hands in the air.

"Hey that's cheap." Naruto replied back pouting.

"Everyone I have a proposal." Ino stood up and announced.

"What is it Ino-pig?" Sakura asked from across the table.

"Recently our family have developed a new form of the mind transfer jutsu. Using it allows me and anyone I wish to take with me inside the mind of the one the jutsu is being used on. I think we could use it on Yuhi-chan to take a look at her memories first hand. I think it's an interesting prospect to find out about the future. What do you guys say?"

"Is it going to hurt Yuhi-chan?" Hinata spoke for the first time in the whole night. Even though she didn't give birth to Yuhi….yet, she still felt her maternal instinct kick in to protect her daughter from impending harm.

"It's completely safe Hinata. We have already tried it successfully many times so there's nothing to worry about. I even tried it on myself." Ino said laughing. "It only lets us see her memories but not change it or do anything to her psyche whatsoever. The jutsu was developed just for recon purposes and of course we don't want anything bad to happen to the one it is being used on while the jutsu is in effect. We can even take Yuhi-chan with us. I think we might find a treasure trove of information in there."

"Well it doesn't seem harmful, so what do you say Yuhi-chan? Do you mind if we have a look at your memories. It might answer some of our questions." Naruto asked with a smile.

"Sure I don't mind." Yuhi replied back with a smile.

"Alright then Ino, you heard her. What do we need to do?" Naruto questioned Ino.

"Just put her down on a chair and you sit down as well. We will be out cold while we are in her mind, but it won't be for too long as time passes much slower in one's mind-space than on the outside." Ino elaborated.

Naruto obliged taking a nearby seat, putting his future daughter safely in a seat next to him.

"Alright then here goes", Ino warned making a few hand signs. "MIND TRANSFER JUTSU."

With a flash the scenery around everyone changed.

"And so the fun begins!" Ino exclaimed with a sideways smirk on her face.

* * *

So that's chapter two. I hope you all liked it. I was originally going to write it tomorrow but after seeing the amount of views the first chapter got within a few hours of upload and the reviews, I had to write this one quick even though I had to stay up the whole night for it.

But I say it was worth it since I enjoyed writing it a lot. Thank you again for all of your awesome reviews everyone. I truly appreciate it and if you leave reviews for this chapter as well I would truly TRULY appreciate that as well. I love reading them and those are what encourage me to go on.

Finally I have next chapter planned and will get to writing it very soon. For now I just need some sleep. Catch you all in the next chapter :)


	3. Family of three

**Family of three**

Woooot? 1000 hits in less than 24 hours, you people be crazy, in a good way of course ;) I didn't even think I would get a 1000 hits lifetime. My mind=blown. Thank you all for the love and kindness you have shown me. I truly do appreciate it.

I would like to mention that this chapter along with the last two actually give very subtle hints towards the events that took place prior to the arrival of Yuhi. What exactly happened will of course be revealed over time but I know there are those of you who like to read in between the lines and theorise, so I have given you something to ponder about ;)

Also, this chapter will explain more about how the mind transfer jutsu will work but it will also contain some NaruHina fluff. I guess you could call this the "happily lived ever after part". I knew that if I ever wrote a story I would definitely want to continue writing into Naruto and Hinata's married life. Heck that is all I want to read, like how their life gets along once they are together.

* * *

With a flash the scenery around everyone changed.

"And so the fun begins." Ino said with a sideways smirk on her face.

As everyone looked around they realised that they were standing on top of what seemed to be a glass surface. They could all see their reflections on the glass, but that wasn't all, they could also see reflections of hundreds upon hundreds of screens on the floor. They were standing on what seemed like a walkway that lead on to a stairway which could be seen close to the horizon. To their left and right were large square screens floating in mid-air, each of which showed a slideshow of certain events. These screens were lined up one after another as far as the eye could see. The area was lit only by the light from these screens, similar to a cinema hall.

"Wow what is this place?" Chouji asked while astonished to his teammate.

"Alright I guess I'll explain since this is probably the first time most of you have come inside the mind of another person." Ino stated with a semi-serious tone. "The screens that you see lined to our sides are all the individual memories of Yuhi-chan. As you can see there are lots and lots of memories, in fact this place contains every single one of her memories. Of course it would take us years to go through all of them but to remedy that I'm able to sort these memories into specific orders I wish. For example I could sort them out in order of some of her happiest ones, or her saddest ones and so on. I think for our purpose though we will have a look at some of her most cherished memories, ones that have great significance to her. That way we can get to have a look at the future she is from and also start to hopefully unravel why or how she got here."

"Sounds like a good plan, but what are those stairways at the far end of the walkway?" Shikamaru asked surveying his surroundings.

"Ah good observation as always Shikamaru." Ino replied with a smile. "You see, every person's memories are separated off by their age. Those stairways are the separation of the memories between different years of their life. Judging from the memories in her mind-space I would say she just turned 7 years old. Is that right Yuhi-chan?"

"Yeah I just turned 7 a week ago." Yuhi replied, clearly excited.

"Thanks." Ino answered while keeping her smile intact. "As you may all know, an average person starts to be able to recall their memories when they are about 4 years old, but those memories are still somewhat broken up. So this jutsu allows us to be able to see the memories of a person from when they are 5 years old and onwards. This floor that we are on currently contains all her memories from her fifth birthday to right before her sixth birthday. Once we go up those stairs we can view all her memories when she was six years old. Finally once we go up the final flight of stairs we will be able to see her most recent memories that she gained since turning seven a week ago."

Shino found the place most intriguing. Intriguing enough to voice his opinion. "This place is certainly quite fascinating. I did not think a person's memories would be so well sorted in their brain."

"They are not actually." Ino answered. "The memories are jumbled up together but the jutsu allows us to be able to sort them out as we wish. Otherwise we would have to go through maybe even years of memories just to find out the ones that are of relevance. This area is very much a user interface we created for ease of access."

"I see." Shino nodded.

Naruto turned to Ino with a rather serious look. "I have been meaning to ask but something's bothering me. I don't know what it is but I get a faint sense of foreboding."

Ino was quite surprised. "So you picked it up as well even though its so far off? I guess you are hokage for nothing. Indeed there seems to be a memory at the far end of her mind-space, one of her most recent memories which contains extremely high level of anxiety. It would appear that something very serious must have happened for that memory to be so distinctly identifiable even from this distance. It might explain some of the major questions we have regarding her appearance."

Naruto was a bit worried, so he asked Yuhi who was still in his arms, "What happened there Yuhi-chan?"

But Yuhi didn't reply to his question and rather looked down with a very sad expression on her face.

"Cut it dobe. We are going to get there anyway so we can have a look first hand ourselves. No point in bothering the girl about it." Sasuke intervened.

"Yes I have to agree with Sasuke-kun on that. But since we are here how about we take a look at some of her earlier memories before we get there?" Sakura added.

"That's what I was thinking as well. Give me a second to find some nice memories to take a look at." Ino was now busy sorting through the countless screens with her hands. It almost looked like telekinesis where she just pointed at the screens with her hand and moved them around without even touching them.

In the meantime while everyone was busy looking and adjusting to their new surroundings, Hinata was fidgeting around trying to get close to Naruto. Finally she managed to muster up the courage to slip next to him and her daughter. This did not go unnoticed by either of them who both turned to face her.

"What is it Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with a tone of shyness to his voice. Needless to say he was now rather conscious of Hinata after the revelation that she was his wife to be.

"A-Ano N-Naruto-kun…..may I h-hold Yuhi-chan?" Hinata pleaded. Now that the shock of Yuhi's origins had faded, she wanted to hold her daughter close to her. She felt this odd sense of attraction to her which she just couldn't explain. Maybe this was the so called mother's intuition?

Naruto somewhat understood what Hinata must have felt. From the first time he interacted with Yuhi he also felt a connection with her. Her blond hair but even more so the way she acted reminded him of his younger self. He even started to feel kind of jealous of his future counterpart, who got to spend every day with his cute daughter. Oh how he wished he could get his hands on that lucky son of a mother duck!

Yuhi seeing her mother automatically stretched out her arms now moving into Hinata's arms. As much as she liked to be close to her father, her mother's body was much softer and comfortable. Naruto felt sad giving his daughter up but he cherished the sight of Hinata and Yuhi cuddling with each other. It made him feel all mushy inside.

"Look at that; they are already acting like a family." Kiba pointed to the three. "Isn't that cute Hinata; you finally got your wish?"

Hinata hoped no one noticed but to no avail. "Ki-Ki-Ki-Kiba-kun it's not like that….." Hinata trailed off not knowing what else to say, her face completely flushed. Although Hinata's response was somewhat expected, to everyone's surprise Naruto was also blushing with a tinge of red on his cheeks.

Sakura was not going to miss this chance to tease her prankster teammate. "What's that Naruto? Do I see a blush on your face?" Sakura teased circling him as Naruto tried to look away. "This is so priceless; I never thought I would see the brash knucklehead Naruto all shy like this."

Tenten also got in on the action. "Yeah, maybe he's wishing he had noticed Hinata earlier. Then by now they would have already had their own version of Yuhi, if you know what I mean." Tenten said winking.

"Stop it!" Naruto couldn't take it any longer. He was rarely on the receiving end of the teasing or pranking.

"Okay stop. I think you have made them uncomfortable enough." Shikamaru sighed.

"Alright I'm done sorting through, I've brought forward some of Yuhi-chan's most important memories when she was five." Ino said releasing a breath. "Let's go in. We will be seeing the memory from a first person view, from the perspective of Yuhi-chan. This is because the brain records the events from all of her senses, namely her eyesight. I have turned off some of her senses since we don't really want to feel pain or anxiety ourselves."

With that Ino touched the screen closest to her and everyone's perspective changed. But surprisingly they could break free from the first person mode and take a look from a third person perspective. They could clearly see a younger Yuhi in bed who had just woken up to the shout of Naruto from downstairs.

"I don't understand, I've never seen a memory from outside the perspective of the one it is being used on. What's going on?" She questioned herself out loud.

The others had an even lesser clue than Ino who was obviously better versed in this regard, but Shikamaru thought of something. "By any chance Yuhi-chan, can you use senjutsu?"

Yuhi gave Shikamaru a complicated look before answering. "Senjutsu? If by that you mean where it gets all red below daddie's eyes then no I can't yet. But daddie did start taking me to mount Myoboku from time to time when I was five, where he and my other toad friends taught me how to use this thing called natural energy. Although I can only sense people for now, daddie said I can someday be able to use that energy for powerful jutsus. I can't wait." Yuhi seemed visually excited.

Nobody could believe what this kid was saying. Not even some of the most skilled ninjas could sense natural energy throughout their entire lives yet this little girl could already sense others using it.

"I think I understand what is going on here." Naruto started to explain once he recovered from the initial shock. "The first step to becoming a sage is to be able to sense the natural energy around you before you can use it for anything else. Yuhi-chan here probably started to sense everyone using natural energy from when she was much younger. I think overtime her range in which she can sense others may have increased, so as we go to her later memories we might be able to see others much further away. For now it seems she can at least sense everyone that is in the house, so even if she does not directly see them, she can tell what they are doing with the natural energy. That is reflected in the fact that we are able to break away from her perspective and take a look at other parts of the house even though she may not necessarily be there in person."

"Wow I think you have a genius in your hands Naruto, Hinata-sama." Neji commented wide eyed. "A little girl able to do so much already is unheard of."

Hinata smiled at the comment and gave Yuhi a kiss on the cheek. Naruto in turn ruffled his daughter's hair saying, "Whose daughter do you think she is? Heck her father is hokage, and she sports the byakugan from her mother's side. This kid is destined for greatness." Naruto felt prouder than ever.

"That actually helps me out a lot. Thanks Naruto and Yuhi-chan." Ino said gladly. "How about we get back to the memory?"

"Good idea." Naruto replied turning his gaze back at what was going on in the house they were in.

Looking around the house, it was a duplex. The top floor had two rooms; one a master bedroom and the second a bit smaller but still a sizeably big room. There was also a toilet and a bathroom to one side of the floor. One could easily tell that the master bedroom was shared by Naruto and Hinata while the smaller one was Yuhi's. It was decorated with luminous glow in the dark stars along with a large assortment of teddy bears, frog plushies and the sort. A big red ball lay at a corner along with toys that were littered around the room. The walls, bed sheet and curtains were all a very vibrant bright orange colour. In a tangent to the entrance of the smaller room was the entrance to the bigger room where an older looking Hinata was brushing her hair. This Hinata was taller and more womanly; she was in her early thirties. Most of her other features remained identical to her younger counterpart though, who was in the audience. The clock showed 9:00 AM in the morning.

"Hinata, HI-NA-TAAAAAAA!" A shout came from downstairs.

Hinata knew Naruto was not one with a ton of patience. Whatever patience he had was mostly used up during his work. "Coming Naruto-kun" Hinata replied back in a hushed voice hoping she wouldn't wake their daughter up, not knowing she was already up. With that she rushed downstairs.

The stairways lead downstairs to an open area in front of the door where all the shoes were placed on designated racks and jackets stacked on walls. One could see the trademark white hokage robe with fiery designs hung up on the wall, above which the hokage hat was nicely placed. These were followed by a collection of Jounin and ANBU vests. To the left of the stairway was the entrance to a rather spacious and well decorated living room. As Hinata entered the room she saw Naruto standing next to the glass doors to the far end of the room, looking out at the garden. This Naruto had slightly longer hair, his bangs covering parts of his eyes, very similar in appearance to his late father. "What is it Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata look, the weather's looking as sunny as ever. I think we can go ahead with our barbeque plans." Naruto had a huge grin plastered to his face as he looked at Hinata.

Some of Naruto's enthusiasm was now being infused into her. "It seems so. I did marinate the meat last night after I got back just to make sure we were prepared if the occasion arrived." Hinata replied back with a smile as well.

"Awesome." Naruto remarked as he got closer to his wife grabbing her waist and giving her a tight sideways hug. "I guess I'll get the charcoal burning while you can get the meat and the salad ready."

"Sure." Hinata answered back happily as she and Naruto walked side by side to the kitchen holding each other tightly.

Naruto opened the store room to the side of the kitchen to bring out the bag of charcoal and the barbeque stove. He then promptly carried them over to the garden and proceeded to pour the coal into the stove.

"_Hmm, I could just light the charcoal on fire but some oil would be nice, and the best oil that burns is toad oil."_ Naruto thought_ "I think I know what to do."_

Naruto quickly made a few hand signs faster than the human eye could see and yelled, "SUMMONING JUTSU." With a poof of white smoke Gamakichi appeared.

"Yo Naruto what's up?" Gamakichi questioned with a happy smile. He always loved it when Naruto summoned him.

Hinata looked through the window and waved at Gamakichi who also waved back.

"Gamakichi, put some oil in the stove will ya? Don't put too much though, we don't want to burn the whole place down." Naruto instructed adjusting the coal in the stove.

"Naruto did you seriously just summon me to put oil in your freaking Barbaque stove? Is that the value of our contract to you now?"

"Hey man, I just needed some oil and you know toad oil burns the best. It was a compliment." Naruto pleaded his case.

"No that's not a compliment, IT'S AN INSULT. I refuse to do your stupid bidding." Gamakichi looked away with a frowning face.

Hinata seeing the argument outside decided to peek her head out of the window. "Come on Gamakichi-san, will you do it for me? Please?" Hinata said with a begging tone. She knew Gamakichi could not resist.

"Fine, since Hinata-hime asked so nicely." Gamakichi said with a blush in his cheeks.

"So when I ask you nicely you take it as an insult and when Hinata-chan asks you agree to do as she says without question. Why I oughta break a boom handle off in your…"

"Now Naruto-kun, mind your language." Hinata cut Naruto off before he could finish his sentence.

"Yes Hinata dear, we are getting along just fine. Aren't we Gamakichi?" Naruto asked with a forced smile. He did not want to upset his wife, the consequences could be dire.

"Yeah of course; Naruto and I go way back. So where do I put the oil pal?"

Naruto pointed at the stove where he had sorted out the coal. With a few quick hand signs Gamakichi splashed the coal with an abundance of toad oil making sure not to overdo it. Naruto proceeded to use a fire style jutsu to set light to the charcoal. The fire burned fiercely and brightly; it looked like it would work very nicely to grill the meat.

"If that is all then I'll be taking my leave." Gamakichi turned around to wave Hinata goodbye.

"Will you not stay with us for the day Gamakichi-san. I'm sure Yuhi-chan would love to see you." Hinata requested with sincerity in her voice.

"Sorry Hinata-hime, but we were also actually having a family day today, so I got to take my leave."

"I see, well then give your family my regards."

"Yeah tell boss and the rest I said hi." Naruto told Gamakichi as he was about to leave.

"Sure. Plus Naruto, you should visit us sometime you know. Oh and bring Yuhi-chan and Hinata-hime along as well; everyone at mount myoboku loves them." With those words the orange frog vanished with a poof just as he appeared.

"Talking about Yuhi, can you go wake her up Naruto-kun?"

"Sure thing. Keep an eye out on the stove though just in case. We don't want a repeat of what happened that one time." Naruto sweat-dropped remembering back to his stupid mistake that put this entire house in jeopardy. Just as he turned around to make his way upstairs, he saw his daughter walking towards him rubbing her eyes.

"Is my little princess up already?" asked Naruto in a childish tone as he hunched down on his knees and outstretched his arms towards her. Yuhi walked into his arms holding him tightly as her father pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Did you have sweet dreams honey?"

"Yeah daddy I dreamed that you, me and mommy were all playing together." Yuhi replied getting out of her drowsy state.

"Is that so? Then get ready because we will be spending the whole day together. Both your daddy and mommy are off work today." Naruto replied enthusiastically as he carried his daughter over to the kitchen.

"Is that true mommy?" Yuhi asked now extremely excited.

"Yup and we have got the barbeque ready as well. We'll spend the whole day having fun. Isn't that great Yuhi-chan?" Hinata asked her daughter with a bright smile as she carried over the bowl of salad and meat over to the stove in the garden.

"YES, I can't wait." Yuhi was now overjoyed.

With that, the day of the trio had just begun. It was rarely that the three could spend an entire day together without any interruptions, given Naruto and Hinata's workload. Such was the reason why the day was so cherished in the mind of their daughter, who loved every moment she could spend with her parents. Being able to spend an entire day was nothing short of a gift for her. After continuing to watch the family just being a happy family for a while longer, Ino cut the memory off as everyone was very satisfied with what they saw. It was obvious that all three of them loved each other and their family bonds were extremely strong.

The present Hinata looked at the flashback as if it were a dream. What she was seeing simply did not register in her brain. It looked like the kind of perfect fantasy that you imagine when you are a child which never comes true. But in this case, it did come true. She was in a daze.

On the other hand Naruto also couldn't believe what he was seeing either. Rather he didn't understand the situation very well because he himself never had a family life to begin with. He felt blissful just watching their future counterparts go about doing their thing. He never thought anyone would enjoy his company so much or that there would ever be such a deep sense of belonging for him. In fact just those thoughts brought a tear to his eyes.

Hinata who was standing beside him promptly noticed this and broke out her daze. She extended her hand to wipe the tears off his eyes with an angelic smile, one which brought peace to his heart.

"Daddy why are you crying?" Yuhi questioned intently.

"Oh no its nothing, I think I just had a bug in my eyes." Naruto promptly wiped his face on his sleeves.

"_There are no bugs here idiot." _Sakura thought in her mind, but she knew how Naruto must have been feeling. In fact everyone knew and felt pleasant seeing a bright future for their friend. If anyone deserved a wonderful family life then it was Naruto.

"That was certainly a heart-warming memory. Now how about we have a look at this one. I am getting a very serious vibe from it." Ino pointed towards the screen in front of her. It showed a preview of Hinata and Hiashi face to face.

"If the two people there are ones I think they are, then I would be very interested in finding out more about this event." Neji said with a rather serious tone.

"Yeah I think this will be very interesting too, so let's get cracking." With that Ino once again touched the screen and just as before the surroundings changed.

* * *

One of the CRAZIEST things happened just after I finished writing this chapter. You see I normally first write chapters of my story in one huge word document, after which I just copy the chapter I just wrote into a blank document that I upload to this site. But this time when I copied the chapter, the paste button wouldn't show up on the new document, so I went back to the older document only to find that the entire chapter from the older document was missing (I did not cut but copied). I almost had a heart attack given that this was the longest chapter I have written by far and hence it took me considerably longer to write it. I was about to break down into tears when I re-opened the old document to find that the chapter was back in its original place, thank god.

So yeah, hopefully you liked this chapter. It was mainly to explain how the story will we told from now on and where exactly it is going towards. Since quite a few of you were saying the previous chapters were a bit small I decided to make this one a bit longer by adding in the NaruHina part in the second half. It was kind of my rendition of how I thought a weekend would look like for the family, but I didn't want to go into too much detail because there will be more chapters that will be dedicated to exploring how their relationships grow, or have grown for that matter. Finally next chapter will be relatively serious. In fact it will contain the first battle, one that I'm very excited to be writing right now.

So once again if you would review this chapter, I would love to read your opinions and I will catch you all in the next chapter.


	4. Succession and confession

**Succession And Confession**

Alright so here it is, the update. This chapter turned out to be my longest yet even though I didn't think I could top last chapter in length, at least in my standard. But I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. Although it contains a battle, I tried to fill it with a lot of emotions, emotions that I felt throughout watching/reading Naruto and emotions that I definitely felt writing this chapter. So I hope that you all will be able to feel those emotions as well, I guess we will have to see lol.

Again thank you all for writing those wonderful reviews, as I have said before, they are what make me want to keep going and I read each and every one of them, multiple times lol. Also thanks to a lot of you who have been giving me some great ideas or discussing the story with me, I really do appreciate you taking an interest in this story. In fact I have added in Hanabi into this chapter after T Dragon messaged me about adding Hanabi in at some point. So feel free to talk to me about the story through messages or review :)

Just a reminder:

_Italics_ indicate someone is thinking in their mind.

**Bold** indicates Kyuubi talking.

Let us begin.

* * *

"Yeah I think this will be very interesting too, so let's get cracking." With that Ino once again touched the screen and just as before the surroundings changed.

This time they appeared at an open embankment on the outskirts of konoha. One could almost see sparks fly and all they could hear were shouts and screams from everyone around them. The tension was severe. Hundreds of people were gathered around a battlefield, genins, chuunins, jounins, anbu, kids, villagers and even the hokage, Naruto himself. At the middle of the battlefield were two people, two Hyuugas to be more specific. Hinata was face to face with her father Hiashi Hyuuga, both of them with unflinching and resolute looks on their faces. As the atmosphere heated up even more future Naruto stepped up to the middle of the battlefield where the two contestants were in a face-off. Naruto cleared his throat to make his announcement. Having seen Naruto's gesture, the crowd quietened down until there was pin drop silence to allow their beloved hokage to speak.

"Thank you to all who have taken the interest to come here to watch one of the most important and exciting events in Konoha's legacy." Naruto declared. "As you know this event takes place once every few decades or so where the successor to the Hyuuga clan is crowned. Of course as you all know, the Hyuuga clan is one of the most important components of Konoha's infrastructure since they possess the fabled Byakugan. Thus with each successor the family's future itself is at stake. To determine the said successor, the current head of the family either formally chooses a candidate or a member of the family challenges the head to a duel to succeed them if they happen to be victorious. Of course the challenger has to be recognised as someone worthy of succeeding the family, so either the clan leader himself formally accepts, or if the challenge is not accepted, the hokage along with the village council decides whether this battle should go forth. In this case the current leader of the Hyuuga family, Hiashi Hyuuga has been challenged by his elder daughter Hinata Hyuuga to a battle for succession. Hiashi Hyuuga himself has accepted and is willing to pass on his leadership to Hinata Hyuuga if she happens to be victorious. So the battle for succession will begin right now and the entire village will be able to spectate this once in a lifetime battle. I wish the both of you good luck and may the best individual win. I will now pass it on to Hanabi Hyuuga who will be the referee of the match."

With the end of his speech Naruto walked through the middle of the battlefield in between both contestants giving Hinata a bright reassuring smile as he went. Naruto had full confidence that his wife could win. Hinata herself was not one who cared for power or hungered for battles. Furthermore she had achieved her lifelong dream of being together with her love, so she really did not have much more to ask for. But there was one other thing that plagued her mind, which was the accursed caged bird seal. Both Naruto and Hinata knew that they had to do something about the seal. It was an abomination in the name of clan tradition and it had to be abolished. Unfortunately even being the hokage Naruto had no right to interfere in a clan's inner workings, and any forceful invasion could very well result in a coup d'état, something that had previously led to the ruin of the Uchiha clan itself. So Naruto had to think of another way, a peaceful way that would not be met with such harsh resistance. The best way to achieve that was if the clan head had the same views as the hokage himself! Hence with Naruto's persistence on changing the way of the Hyuuga and Hinata's will to help Naruto to carry out such a task, they both decided Hinata herself would have to become the head of the clan itself, as she was originally meant to be. Of course during the years Hiashi had decided to announce Hanabi the head of the clan when she came of age because he firmly believed Hanabi had all the makings of the perfect clan leader. Above all she had strength both in physical and mental form to rule over the clan as its stern leader, something that Hinata sorely lacked in his eyes. So when Hinata challenged him to a battle for succession he was surprised to say the least, but accepted nonetheless to see how she had grown. He did not believe that Hinata had what it took to win, but rather wanted to test her constitution.

And here they were, face to face with Hanabi in the middle waiting to give the signal. To Hanabi the whole prospect was amusing at best. Her sister who she had always seen being shy and timid, one who had not much interest in the clan's inner goings was now ready to face her father, one who was considered a Hyuuga prodigy in many generations that had passed. Not even Hanabi who was thought be her father's protégé and was believed to be just as good if not better than Hiashi would want to face him head on. Yes her father was a genius indeed, but there was something fundamentally different about Hinata now, the one thing that she hoped to find out through the course of this battle. So leaving her thoughts aside she gave a quick glance towards both the contestants before declaring, "This battle will continue until either one of the contestants gives up or is no longer able to continue. Are the two of you ready?"

To her question, both Hinata and Hiashi gave a quick nod as they got into their respective stances as well as activating their byakugan.

In reply to their gesture, Hanabi made her final announcement, "I wish the both of you the very best of luck and may the best one win. BEGIN!"

With her last word Hanabi made a prompt back-dash as Hinata and Hiashi instantly charged towards each other resulting in a huge collision from their first strikes. The first strike was followed by the next which was in turn followed by countless number of strikes that were too fast for most ninja to even see. The force from each collision spread radially outwards like a ripple in a pond and was severe in magnitude. Every spectator could feel the intensity behind each hit through both sound in the air and shockwaves through the ground; the two combatants were not holding anything back.

Hinata could see her father's moves clearly. During her many years of being married to Naruto, she wasn't just sitting around. Naruto being the hyperactive ninja he was always loved to train and he dragged Hinata along with him. Heck many of her early days with Naruto before their daughter was born would be spent training somewhere outside Konoha. Naruto would sometimes even sneak off to do a mission with Hinata while leaving a clone to disguise his position. It was a major headache for the authority since the idea of the hokage leaving the village to do some random mission was unheard of, but Naruto insisted. Hinata as much as she opposed to Naruto's practices, loved the idea of the two of them travelling together and carrying out missions. It was also during these times that she learned much from Naruto, plus with his constant support and motivation she had grown at a completely different pace than she could have ever hoped to while living with the Hyuuga.

This apparent growth was now showing. Hiashi despite pushing himself to strongly, was matched both in strength and speed by Hinata at every step. He did not think it possible; he had never seen his elder daughter ever display this level of vigour. Finally giving up his futile effort to simply over power his daughter with pure strength, Hiashi stopped his offense and dodged a few of the oncoming assaults before jumping back a few steps. Hinata did not want to lose the offensive synergy and rushed in to take advantage of the situation only to be pushed right back by a swift Kaiten by her father. For the first time in the match, seeing both combatants finally stop to take a breath, the crowd erupted in cheers at the valiant demonstration of the two fighters.

Naruto who was now sitting with his daughter on his lap on top of a tree branch nearby was watching with great intent. For the first time during the battle Yuhi asked her father a question, "Mommy is strong isn't she?"

At her remark he laughed and gave her a strong squeeze, "Your mommy isn't strong Yuhi, SHE'S A BEAST. She may be shy and timid but once she gets serious, there is no adversary that she can't face head-on."

"What's an adversary daddy?" Yuhi questioned turning her head slightly to her father.

"An adversary is your opponent that you face in a fight. Did I ever tell you of the story when your mother saved my life?" Naruto asked showing great interest.

"Really, she did? You never told me. Tell me, NOW." Yuhi wanted to know more about this particular incident. She always thought of her father as being an extremely powerful ninja as he focused much on showing her different techniques, but she thought of her mother as loving and caring, one who didn't care much for strength though.

"You see, there was once this really big baddy called Pain who came into our village and destroyed it completely. I then went face to face with Pain trying to stop him from causing anyone any more harm."

"Wow daddy you are a hero." Yuhi cut into Naruto's explanation.

"Haha thanks. But you see, as I faced Pain he proved to be too strong for me to defeat. I kept on fighting but before I knew it Pain had me pinned to the ground. I couldn't even move."

"What? No way, you couldn't lose to some baddy. I know you are the strongest daddy." Yuhi argued.

"I'm glad that you think that way Yuhi but no one is without their weakness. Even I have met my match at times in the past." Naruto answered with a sincere smile.

Yuhi frowned but accepted her father's confession. "Then what happened. How did you win?"

"Good question. So when I was pinned down and had no hope, something incredible happened. Before my eyes your mother jumped in between Pain and me and she had the most determined look in her face unlike any I had ever seen before."

Yuhi was amazed, "Then what?"

"I thought your mother had gone crazy. I told her to get away and not put herself in harm's way but what she said next is something I will never forget."

"What did mommy say?" Yuhi questioned intently.

"She said: I know I'm being selfish. I'm here of my own free will. I used to always cry and give up…I nearly went the wrong way…But you showed me the right way. I was always chasing after you…wanting to overtake you…I just wanted to walk with you…I wanted to be with you. You changed me! Your smile saved me! So I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because I…love you."

"Wow, mommy…" Yuhi was lost for words as she looked over to her mother who was in the midst of battle. Her view of her mother changed as she heard those words and saw her in action.

"Yeah I thought the same at the time. Your mommy knew she couldn't win, but she still fought for me selflessly. In fact that was the first time she ever told me that she loved me. Although I pretended to not remember what she said after that for various reasons, those words "I love you" were and always have been the most precious words I have ever heard in my life. They have a very special place in my heart." Naruto also looked towards Hinata now.

"But daddy I love you too." Yuhi looked to Naruto once again.

"Of course I know you love me. Just as I love you and your mommy with all my heart." Naruto replied back to his daughter with a comforting smile.

"But what happened after that daddy? What happened to mommy and you?"

"Well your mommy fought pain with all her strength and tried her best to free me, but pain proved too strong for her as well. Pain ended up hurting her really bad. Watching her get hurt something inside of me broke and one of my old friends showed up to help me defeat pain." Naruto explained as he remembered the worst emotions he had seethed at that time.

"**I don't know if at that time we were in the best of terms to be called friends kit." Kyuubi whispered from inside Naruto's psyche.**

"I guess not." Naruto replied back yo Kyuubi in his mind. "But we are now and it makes it a heck of a lot easier to call you a friend than the nine tailed fox."

"**Heh, I guess that makes sense." Kyuubi said with a smirk.**

"Who was it that helped you daddy? Do I know them? What is their name?" Yuhi was somewhat confused.

"Actually you haven't met him yet, but I promise someday I will introduce the two of you. In fact he already knows you but you don't know him. His name is Kurama." Naruto enthusiastically introduced his old friend.

"Oh wow, I can't wait to meet uncle Kurama." Yuhi bounced around in Naruto's lap.

"I'm sure Kurama can't wait to meet you as well." Naruto smiled inwardly at Kurama who also smiled back. "Oh yea and I do want to point out that your mom didn't just get out there to fight pain without having any strength whatsoever."

"What do you mean daddy?" Yuhi's questioning continued.

"At that time as she fought pain, your mommy used this amazing technique called…"

"Gentle step: TWIN LION FIST!" Both Naruto and Hinata said in unison.

"Oh, that's the technique I was talking about; guess she must have read my mind." Naruto laughed not in the least bit surprised, unlike Yuhi who was now at the edge of Naruto's lap. The twin lion fist was one of the most elegant and beautiful techniques she had ever seen.

After having traded blow after blow with her father and having avoided each other's attacks for an extended duration of time, Hinata finally decided it was time to get truly serious. She had just used one of her signature techniques.

"Huh, that technique, I remember it in its infancy. But it seems it has grown just like you. Guess I have no choice now but to get serious as well." Hiashi looked at Hinata with a face devoid of emotion. As he finished his words, Hiashi's index and middle fingers were surrounded by a blue aura as well similar to Hinata's. While Hinata had distributed her energy in the form of a lion over her two hands, Hiashi had focused it at a much higher density on his fingertips, meaning the attacks needed much more precision but were multiple times more deadly.

Hinata not realising the impending danger of her father's attack charged in once again but as soon as their attacks collided, with a massive burst Hinata was thrown back several meters from the point where the attacks joined. Before she could even realise what had happened Hiashi was already at point blank range. In a flash Hinata was already hit by a few quick flicks of the wrist, but she focused her mind to avoid the next incoming onslaught of attacks waiting for her time to strike. Surely enough her opportunity arrived not too long later as Hiashi extended both of his hands at the same time to hit Hinata at the pressure points in her shoulder and neck. But Hinata quickly intercepted by pushing both of his hands off to his sides in one quick strike disabling his wrists in the process. Since his wrists were temporarily unusable, Hinata quickly changed her stance to hit Hiashi with both hands in his midsection, but her father saw the attack coming and blocked his body with his forearms, being pushed back several meters in the process.

Hinata thought, _"I have got you now."_ With one quick spin she extended her left hand launching the lion across the ground which now had a fully body, not just a head. Within another few seconds Hinata had launched a second lion from her right hand. Both lions charged towards Hiashi with a deafening roar that caused most people in the audience to cover their ears. There was no escape from these lions as they were homing in on their target; the lions being controlled by the user's eyes. Hiashi realising that stayed at his position not trying to escape. No one understood what he was thinking; it looked like he had given up. Just as the lions got close to him though, Hiashi formed the biggest kaiten one had ever seen. In fact it was so big that even Hinata who was meters away was hit by the immensely powerful attack and was thrown back into the ground. The area had left a huge crater where the attack had taken place.

Hiashi stood in the middle of the crater as he watched his daughter still struggling to get up from the shock of the hit. "Indeed it seems what you lack in power you tried to make up in range, but my kaiten is the epitome of all of Hyuuga's techniques. It is the perfect defence as it blocks any incoming attack; it is the perfect offense as it repels the said attack. Plus it is blindingly fast and not to mention it has an unbelievable range. There is no compromise. Regardless I suppose I should put an end to this." Hiashi made his statement. "Gentle Fist Art: SIXTY FOUR PALMS!"

Hiashi had initiated the Hyuuga's signature technique. Hinata seeing the attack jumped up into the air and used her very own technique, "Gentle Fist Art: SIXTY FOUR PALMS GUARD!" As Hinata started to move her body around as though performing an elegant dance, a blue dome formed around her vicinity which absorbed all the palm strikes of Hiashi's attacks. Despite the fact that none of his attacks were doing any damage, Hiashi kept on striking the dome and completed all 64 strikes. As soon as Hinata saw Hiashi finish his attack, she terminated her own to land on the ground hopefully to continue her assault therein.

At her decision Hiashi smirked for the first time, "Wrong choice. AIR PALM!" With one clean blow while she was landing Hinata was blasted further upwards now helplessly suspended in mid-air. "Now for the finish, Gentle Fist Art: FIVE HUNDRED TWELVE PALMS!"

The audience gasped not believing what Hiashi was about to do, but their eyes betrayed them. With one jump Hiashi also launched himself mid-air starting to hit Hinata from every direction possible, similar to Lee's assault on Gaara during the chuunin exams. Poor Hinata couldn't even anticipate where Hiashi was attacking from let alone block it. Each successive hit blocked and battered all of her pressure points. Hiashi continued his relentless assault and by the end of it he had already hit every single one of Hinata's tenketsu leaving her with no means of resistance. For his final blow he jabbed Hinata with one devastating blow to her solar plexus bringing her straight down into the ground making a second crater within the previously created crater. Hinata had no strength left and the attack left her gasping for air.

Before starting to walk off, Hiashi looked at his daughter one last time and said, "You certainly have grown, but you are still not good enough. Your weakness still remains."

Those were words that she had not heard in a long time, not after she had left the Hyuuga to start a family with Naruto. Within an instant all of her memories came rushing back; her weaknesses and vulnerabilities from during her childhood. As she remembered how she was never truly able to prove her strength to the Hyuuga, it felt as though all was for naught. She only thought she had gotten stronger, she only thought she had changed, but in the end she was the same weak Hinata she always was. At her last thought her mind began to drift into darkness as her consciousness started to fade away.

"MOMMY NO!" Yuhi shouted at the top of her lungs causing the audience to look towards her in surprise. Hinata also heard her voice that stopped her from slipping into complete darkness.

Naruto held his daughter in place and reassured her, loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's okay Yuhi, calm down. The battle is far from ever."

Yuhi and everyone looked at Naruto is confusion, "But mommy just lost; she's hurt daddy!" Yuhi explained with tears in her eyes.

Naruto smiled at Yuhi. "No, I actually think she's just about to win darling. Your mommy never gives up and she never goes back on her word because it is her nindo, her ninja way."

The entire audience along with the konoha 12 looked over at Naruto with shock as he had just stated his own nindo. Then they realised that Naruto and Hinata shared the same nindo, and it was their nindos that connected them together from the very beginning. Two people with such contrasting personalities and walks of life but they both strived for the same thing. Perhaps they had much more in similar than the eyes met.

Those final words of Naruto overtook all of Hinata's insecurities and vulnerabilities in a flash. She finally remembered how it is she overtook them in the first place; it was by watching Naruto and following in his footsteps that she had grown strong in to begin with. She had even managed to achieve her dreams, so what was there to doubt about herself?

_"Naruto-kun believes in me, and that is all that matters to me. I WON'T let him down!"_ Hinata thought to herself.

With those final words she crawled and dragged her beaten and battered body out of the little crater she was in. She forced herself to stand up despite her body telling her to stay down; she would not give up no matter what. She rapidly proceeded to open enough tenketsu points at the palms of her hands and around her body to be able to perform just a few more ninjutsus to win this battle.

Hiashi who had walked quite far away from Hinata now looked back in disbelief. He had never witnessed anyone who had been able to retain consciousness after his five hundred twelve palms, let alone still be able to stand. "I certainly commend you daughter for still being able to stand, but in your current state what exactly can you do?"

"You think I'm weak father; I'll prove you wrong." With those words Hinata made a hand sign, "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" A single shadow clone popped into existence with white smoke. Both the original and clone now started rushing towards Hiashi. Hinata extended her right hand as the clone started to focus all of her energy into the shape of a concentrated sphere. Hiashi's eyes shot wide open in shock and the crowd gasped in amazement. Hiashi quickly regained his senses and initiated his kaiten, creating a gigantic dome around him once again.

Hinata readied her attack and yelled, "RASENGAN!" Both the clone and the original pushed the rasengan against the kaiten as hard as they could as a tremendous burst of air spread out almost blowing a few unprepared people away. The struggle between the two techniques continued as both sides were unyielding.

"To think you have mastered the fourth hokage's A-rank technique, one that is known by only a handful of ninjas due to its complexity. So it seems I underestimated you." Hiashi spoke out from amidst the chaos. "But not even the fourth hokage's technique is strong enough to overcome the Hyuuga's perfect style." With his last words Hiashi unleashed the full potential of the kaiten which enlarged in size and power to twice its previous state. The clone popped out of existence as Hinata skidded across the ground still trying to hold her rasengan in place, which was now starting to become unstable in her hand.

"The end is nigh. It is time you face defeat." Hiashi made one last remark as the battle reached its end.

"If the fourth hokage's technique is not enough, then I'll just have to use the sixth hokage's technique." Hinata now started form a second sphere in her empty left hand.

Naruto in his excitement stood up with his daughter in the tree branch. The crowd also responded by grasping on to the nearest object they could find in anticipation.

"RASENGAN BARRAGE!" Both spheres now collided with the kaiten breaking its defence in an instance. Hiashi was left defenceless in the middle of the attack, so Hinata rushed towards him with both Rasengans in hand. Hiashi with nowhere to run and with nothing he could do just closed his eyes in anticipation of the attack, but the attack never hit. He opened his eyes only to find Hinata had stopped short of a few inches from him still with the Rasengans active. He could feel the force pulsating from the spheres just from the air around them even though they had not collided. His body finally gave in and he dropped down to his knees.

"I….I have lost. B-but why don't you finish it daughter?" He exclaimed looking down.

Hinata defused the Rasengans. "Father you may have doubted me, but I have always cared for you, as you are the one who has brought me up and without you I wouldn't even be here. Perhaps the circumstances around mother's death has made you into the tough man you are today, but I still have respect and admiration for you just like I always did. To me father, you are a very special person. I love you."

Those were words Hiashi had not heard for many many years. At that moment to him Hinata looked the splitting image of her mother; gentle yet resolute. This brought tears to his eyes; eyes that had not shed tears after the day his wife died.

"I'm sorry dear Hinata; I failed to recognise your true potential. I always thought strength was the only gauge for a person's potential, yet I forgot that kindness and determination are also measures what one can truly achieve, perhaps even greater than one's strength; attributes that you possess in spades. To be humble enough to admit one's weakness and then having the determination to overcome that weakness is what one's true potential really is. I failed to understand that because of my pride, but at the very least I can now pass on the Hyuuga's lineage into your capable hands. Perhaps with you the Hyuuga family will be able to rid itself of its accursed pride and finally move to a new era of prosperity and unity. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you Hinata." Hiashi ended his statement only to find himself wrapped around in a hug by his daughter who was also in tears.

"Thank you father." Hinata replied with true gratitude.

Hanabi appeared with a smile on her face next to them to announce the victor. "The winner has been decided. It is HINATA HYUUGA, my sweet elder sister!"

The crowd erupted in cheers but one of the biggest cheers came from a certain tree branch. "MOMMY WON!" Yuhi rejoiced while wiping her tears. Naruto himself jumped up from the tree branch pumping his right fist into the air in celebration only to find the tree branch crack as he landed back on it. He tumbled down towards the ground but maneuvered himself so that Yuhi was above him during the fall. With a loud thud Naruto dropped to the ground on his back.

"OUCH, my moneymaker!" Naruto shouted in pain.

The entire crowd erupted in laughter at the antics of their goofy hokage as the memory was cut off.

Everyone watching was awestruck at the amazing battle they witnessed and truly touched by the emotion of those in the memory.

* * *

So there you have it. So what did you think? As always I encourage you to leave a review as I LOVE reading them.

Anyway, this took me quite a while to write, so I think I'll get a bit of rest before I start writing the next chapter. So until then, see ya.


	5. Proposal

**Proposal**

Welcome back, glad you are here once again to read the next chapter. This one took a while longer since I have been busy with a few other things. Unfortunately my PC broke down and since I built it from the ground up myself, I have to troubleshoot the problems which is a pain in the backdoor. Gladly I have my laptop to work with.

On a good note though, one of my favorite NaruHina stories just recently got finished, even though the last few chapters took a while to come out. If you would like to check it out, I highly recommend it. It is called "Unexpected outcomes from you to me"

Anyway as for this chapter, Shion will make an appearance. I am imagining everyone knows about Shion, but just in case someone doesn't, she's the main character from Naruto Shippuuden Movie 1. If you haven't watched it, go watch it now. The movie is awesome. With that being said, I'll leave you guys to read on. See you at the end :)

* * *

Everyone watching was awestruck at the amazing battle they witnessed and truly touched by the emotion of those in the memory.

As the memory was cut-off, the present konoha 12 were once again in Yuhi's mind space. Naruto looked over at Hinata with awestruck eyes. "Hinata-chan, that was AMAZING! When did you learn the Rasengan, and two of them at that?" Naruto asked Hinata with sparkles in his eyes.

Before Hinata could say anything Neji intercepted. "Hinata-sama, that was truly an amazing battle and I always believed that someday through sheer hard work and determination you would be able to overtake even your honourable father. Not to take anything from your victory, but I think there is a bit more pressing matter at hand."

Hinata once again was about to open her mouth as Neji looked over at Naruto with a very menacing look before continuing, "Naruto! If I heard correctly, the future version of you said something about not replying to Hinata-sama's confession. Furthermore you said that you held her confession as, um, how should I put it, something dearest to your heart? Care to explain?" The otherwise confident Neji slightly stuttered as he paraphrased future Naruto's heartfelt confession to his daughter. Nonetheless Neji took a slight fighting stance to indicate he wished for a satisfactory answer, fast.

"Yea, I was about to ask about the same thing." Tenten pulled out a scroll used to summon a thousand kunai. "To think he kept Hinata hanging."

"Those two pointed out exactly what I was going to point out." Ino pulled out a bouquet of poisonous roses. "If the answer is not convincing, I will make you endure the sting that comes with the feeling of rejection which Hinata suffered, bit by bit."

"You may be my team mate Naruto, but I can't let the pain that you inflicted on a fellow woman go unpunished." Sakura made a thunderous noise as she punched her right fist into her left palm.

"You dare hurt my team mate? I will tear you to shreds." Kiba growled as he bore his fangs.

"Perhaps my insects could help in exterminating the shreds that are left over." Shino added with a cold tone.

"BUSTED!" Naruto screamed as he retreated backwards while his friends approached closer with horrifying looks to their faces. Naruto looked around to find his salvation. "Hey Sasuke, help a bro out."

"Sure." Sasuke replied with a smile.

Naruto was relieved to have Sasuke by his side. With Sasuke covering him, no damage could come his way. "Thanks man, I always knew you were a true friend deep down."

"Yeah don't worry dobe. Once these guys are done with you, I'll be more than happy to burn your body to cinders with my black flames. I also promise to bury your remains, if there are any. It'll be good times." Sasuke replied with a very sick but happy tone.

"Son of a…" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence before he was pinned down to the ground by Ino and Sakura, ready to make him suffer a slow and painful death.

"No wait, please wait. Spare me." Naruto pleaded his case with fear in his eyes.

"You won't find any mercy." Tenten replied with a kunai in hand; ready to summon about a thousand more.

Just as the crew were about to mete out their judgement, Hinata who had remained quiet for so long couldn't take it any longer. She wanted to know the reason behind Naruto's actions. "STOP!" she screamed.

Everyone turned around to look at Hinata, who had determination in her eyes. Hinata walked over to Naruto before kneeling down beside him. "Na-Naruto-kun, I know you must have your reasons. I believe and respect in your decisions, but I…..I really do want to know why you chose to not answer me back t-then. If you r-really feel the way your future self described, then I hope i-it won't be too much for me to ask for your reasoning in return for my confession. Even if you don't want to a-accept me, just knowing w-will be good enough." Hinata said with a sad but determined look in her eyes.

One look at those eyes and Naruto knew he couldn't squirm his way out of this situation. So he finally gave up struggling and said, "I understand, I'll explain." Sakura and Ino released him having seen the sincere look in his eyes.

Naruto got up and looked Hinata dead straight, ignoring the others that were present. "What the future version of me said was true. His feelings were not new-found, but rather those were feelings that developed from the time of your sacrifice against Pain to the end of the fourth ninja war." Naruto gave a wry smile.

"I always thought that I was in love with Sakura-chan." Naruto looked over at Sakura. "No offence to you Sakura-chan, but I realised after Hinata's sacrifice against Pain that what I felt for you was not love; it rather just a childish crush."

Naruto turned his gaze back once again at Hinata. "You showed me that to love someone truly is to put them above yourself. From then on I reflected more about your actions and what they meant to me. I figured I was a very lucky individual to be on the receiving end of such unconditional love, and I would be a fool to let go off it. By the end of the war I knew I had to respond to your feelings; it would be unfair to not to. But the more I thought I would, the more I felt I didn't deserve what I was getting. Here I was, some random orphan kid and there you were, the princess of the village. The difference seemed of night and day. I felt the Hyuuga family would never accept such a proposition, and I didn't want you to lose your family because of me. I knew what it felt like to not have any family whatsoever." Naruto now looked down in sorrow.

"So I decided I would wait until I had the appropriate status before asking your hand in marriage. For me that was until I became hokage. Funny enough this past week since I became hokage, among all the things that have been going through my mind, the thing I was thinking most was how to approach you and the Hyuuga family with my proposition. I was kind of scared you might not care for me as you did back then. But funny enough this whole thing ends up happening. Although I must say I'm relieved to see that my future self was able to do what I haven't been able to do yet." Naruto now gave a heartfelt smile.

Hinata who had been listening attentively felt she understood Naruto, but she still couldn't help feel angry that her loved one wouldn't at least give her a hint that he also loved her back. Having finally heard and seen first-hand how Naruto felt for her, she felt truly relieved. She started pummelling Naruto on his head with her fists like hammers.

"Ita-ta-ta-ta, Hinata-chan that hurts. Please stop." Naruto begged trying to protect his head with his hands. But Hinata's onslaught continued as tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Do you know how miserable I was all this time?" Hinata asked from amidst her tears.

"I'm sorry."

"I thought that you didn't even think of me worthy enough that you would give me a reply." Hinata kept on crying.

"I'm sorry."

"Worse than hearing a no was to be completely ignored by you." Hinata explained as she continued pummelling Naruto.

"I'm sorry."

"You think just saying sorry will make up for everything?" Hinata asked angrily. Hinata was rarely ever angry.

"I don't." Naruto caught both of Hinata's fists in his hands. "So Hinata-chan, will you marry me?"

Everyone's jaws dropped. They all saw Naruto and Hinata married in the memories. Heck even their child was with them, but now they actually saw Naruto's proposal, and it came completely out of left field. They all imagined how the situation suited Naruto's title of most unpredictable ninja of the hidden leaf village.

"I-I-I…" Hinata didn't know what to say. The memories she saw earlier felt so heart-warming, yet she felt jealous of her future self for having what she always wanted. Those memories felt so real, but at the same time it felt as though those would never come true for her present self. But now this, this was really real. Naruto had just proposed and her brain for some reason could not form a coherent sentence in response.

"I know this is kind of out of the blue, but I have been meaning to ask you this since I finally became hokage. I wish it was a bit more romantic and I had a ring, but I think the situation called for it. So what do you say? I mean our future selves are already married, so I don't know what kind of space-time continuum law we would be breaking if our present selves also didn't get married." Naruto joked. "But all joking aside, will you be my wife?"

"I-Yes." Hinata finally managed to say yes before promptly fainting.

"I was wondering how long she could stay awake." Shikamaru jokingly remarked.

"YOSH, Naruto-kun has reached the PEAK of his youth. That was a truly youthful proposal indeed." Lee screamed at the top of his voice.

"Well this was certainly interesting. Although it seemed inevitable after watching what we did, it still felt so surprising. Congratulations Naruto, I guess I'll let you off the torture since you did propose to her. You better keep her happy, but then again looking at all those memories it seems that won't be a problem." Ino said with a gentle smile.

"Daddy, you told me before that you and mommy were already married. Are you two going to get married again?" Yuhi asked with a confused look.

Naruto knew this was going to be a hard question to answer since Yuhi still didn't know the fact that she had time-travelled back to the past. "I guess you could say that. I love your mommy so much that I decided to marry her a second time."

"Wow really, but I love her more though." Yuhi stated as she pumped up her chest to show how much she cared for her mother.

"Oh yeah? I think I love her more." Naruto argued.

"No I love her more." Yuhi was not ready to back down.

The two kept on arguing back and forth until Hinata herself woke up. Everyone in turn congratulated Naruto and Hinata except for Sasuke who just acted as if he didn't care. But deep down he was glad Naruto finally found himself someone who cared for him. During this time Ino had already found the next memory to look at.

"Alright guys, now that the shock of Naruto's proposal has settled in, how about we have a look at the next memory?" Ino asked with her eyes fixated on one screen.

"Yup, can't wait to see more." Tenten replied back with excitement.

With a flash the surroundings changed. They were now in the hokage's office. Future Naruto was just sitting down at the hokage's desk; he was properly dressed in his hokage robes. Yuhi was also in the room, who was busy building a house with her Lego set.

"Okay Yuhi, since you wanted to come so badly I brought you in here with me today. But make sure you don't make too much noise and don't bother anyone who comes in. Daddy has a lot of work to do okay, so keep your promise." Naruto explained to his daughter.

"Okay daddy, I won't bother you." Yuhi said seriously.

"Good girl." Naruto complimented her and went back to his paperworks.

Several minutes passed as Naruto and Yuhi were absorbed in their own tasks when suddenly an Anbu appeared out of thin air in front of Naruto's desk.

"What's up?" Naruto asked with his gaze fixated on the documents in front of him.

"Hokage-sama, it seems you have a visitor. The guest states that she is an acquaintance of yours and wishes to have a word with you. The woman goes by the name of Shion." The Anbu stated curtly.

"Shion, hmm." Naruto said in a trance still busy with his paperworks. "Shion, WAIT WHAT?" Naruto finally realised who the Anbu was talking about and stood up from his chair. "You mean THAT Shion? Escort her in immediately." Naruto ordered.

"As you wish." The Anbu replied as he vanished into thin air.

Within a minute a woman in a pink kimono entered the room. It was indeed the Shion Naruto had assisted way back in the day. "Is that really you Shion?" Naruto still asked in amazement.

"Indeed. It has been a long time hasn't it Naruto?" Shion smiled back.

Yuhi looked up at Shion also in surprise. "Is that you mommy? Daddy why is mommy's hair blonde all of a sudden?" Yuhi asked.

"Aww how cute, she thinks we are her parents." Shion smiled and stroked Yuhi's hair. "Actually this cuts things right to the chase; I am here to hold you to your word Naruto."

"Yuhi that's not your mother and Shion that's actually my daughter."

"Stop joking Naruto. I know you said you would assist me but we still haven't gotten around to…you know…reproducing I guess." Shion blushed as she tried to explain her reason for visit.

"WHAT?" Naruto asked with an astonished face. "Did I just hear you correctly?"

"Don't tell me you forgot. How could you? You said you would help me."

"Yeah I remember that I wanted to help you. I still feel the same way, but what's this about reproducing? Is this your idea of a joke?" Naruto looked at Shion with a questioning face.

"I asked you to help me pass on my legacy of course. So I meant I wanted to bear your child. I hope you still intend to hold true to your word, so I came here to ask your hand in marriage." Shion explained in an annoyed tone.

"NO FRIGGIN WAY." Naruto's jaws opened up to an unreasonable level. "Now that I think back, I guess I did say I would help you make a baby."

At Naruto's last statement the door to the room burst open and a watery-eyed Hinata walked in. "Naruto-kun how could you?"

"No Hinata-chan listen, it's not what you think." Naruto tried to explain.

"How could you have an affair with another woman behind my back? I trusted you." Hinata now in tears turned around to leave the room.

Naruto seeing the situation getting out of hand too quickly jumped over his desk and held Hinata's hand. "Hinata-chan believe me I haven't had any affairs behind your back. This is all a misunderstanding. Oh and Shion, this is my wife Hinata Hyuuga and that girl there is my daughter Yuhi Uzumaki." Naruto pointed to his daughter with one hand as he held Hinata tightly with his other hand.

"Tell me you are lying." Shion asked in vain as she dropped down to her knees.

"No this is very true." Naruto replied with a firm resolve.

Since the situation had gotten somewhat out of hand, Naruto took the rest of the day off to tend to his guest and take care of things. So the party went back to Naruto's home where he explained everything to Hinata, about what happened during his mission, and about how he had told Shion he would help her not realizing what kind of help she requested.

"So you see Hinata-chan, that's the whole story." Naruto finished explaining his story.

"I see, I think I finally understand. Thank goodness Naruto-kun, for a second there I thought my whole world had been lost. I wouldn't know what I would do if you were cheat on me Naruto-kun." Hinata sighed in relief.

"Of course I wouldn't cheat on you; I love you too much to do something like that." Naruto explained in a submissive tone.

The company was sitting in the living room on the dining table. Shion looked around to see the house was very beautifully decorated and couldn't help but imagine herself in the position of being Naruto's wife. She loved him after all.

"I can't believe you didn't realise what I meant. I thought you were the apprentice of the toad sage Jiraiya, and he's one of the biggest perverts known to the ninja world." Shion was starting to get angry at Naruto's obliviousness.

Hinata couldn't help but feel a bit sad for Shion herself. She knew how oblivious Naruto could be, especially when it came to matters of love. She had to wait almost a decade before Naruto even answered to her confession.

"I'm sorry Shion but I guess I was stupid for not realising. But as you can see I have a wife and a kid now, so I won't be able to help you in that regard."

"Well I don't care; I guess I'll just have to make do with being your second wife." Shion said with a very serious tone.

"Second wife? WHAT THE FRIG?" Naruto was so surprised that he fell over backwards from his chair hitting his head hard on the ground in the process. He got himself up again rubbing the newly formed bump in the back of his head.

"You are joking right? I can't do that." Naruto was flabbergasted at the proposal.

"Why not? You are the hokage so you have both power and wealth to take a second wife if you pleased. It's not like I'm asking you to leave your family, but this way you can also help me as you said you would."

"I guess given my status I could take a second wife. And I guess if I did do that I could also keep my word to you. B…"

As Naruto was finishing his sentence Hinata had got up and ran for the door. Before Naruto could make a move Hinata was already out of the house and had jumped over the rooftop of the neighbouring houses. Just the thought of having to share her Naruto-kun brought tears to her eyes. Hinata was one of the most kind and sharing people, but when it came to Naruto she didn't want to even think of a compromise. So Hinata ran and tried to get as far away from reality as she could. She had already reached close to the exit of the village when with a flash Naruto appeared right in front of her. Being in a mid-air jump, Hinata couldn't change her direction and crashed right into Naruto who promptly caught her bridal style. Within a second gravity started to work its magic dragging both Naruto and Hinata straight down to earth. Luckily a tree broke their fall as the two got stuck on a branch.

"Let go." Hinata struggled. "I'm sure you have much to plan for your second wedding." Hinata refused to look at Naruto.

"Hinata-chan listen to me. Let me explain." Naruto pleaded as he tried to hold Hinata in place.

"No, why should I listen? I'm sure you just sent a clone after me anyway." With her words she jabbed Naruto at his heart only to find the supposed clone did not disappear.

"ITAI! That hurts Hinata-chan. You see now, I'm not a clone. Heck I didn't even have time to think about making a clone since I ran after you as fast as I could. Please listen to me."

"Fine I guess I'll give you a chance." Hinata pouted.

"Thank you Hinata-chan. First of all I'm sorry; I didn't mean to cause you such anxiety. Second you know how much I love you; I can't put it in words. You are all I need in my life and I would never bring anyone else even if I had the chance. Together with you and Yuhi, I have the best family I could ever ask for. That is why I rejected Shion's proposal."

Naruto's words were imbued with sincerity. Hinata could feel he meant what he said. Her heart finally calmed down. "You really mean it?" She still asked.

"Of course. You know I do." Naruto replied back.

The two looked into each other's eyes where they started to lose themselves. Both Naruto and Hinata started to bring their faces close together until their lips finally locked into an embrace. Unfortunately within seconds the branch they were sitting on broke with a snap and the couple were sent plummeting down to the ground. Naruto made sure Hinata was on top as they fell and landed to the ground with a loud crash.

"OUCH, my Gluteus Maximus!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs in agony.

With Naruto's scream the memory was cut off as everyone's face convulsed thinking about the pain Naruto must have felt.

* * *

And there you have it. A lot of you seemed to want more of the konoha 12 interaction, so I tried to bring more of that in. Although memories are the primary form by which the story will be delivered, I'll try to break up the pace using the konoha 12 if necessary.

As always I would like to thank you for your continuous interest on reading my story and I would like to ask if you could kindly leave a review of what you thought about the chapter. That would make me as happy as a cow in an endless field of grass. Wait, are cows happy when they see grass? I'm imagining so.

Until next time, stay frosty.


	6. A night with the Hyuuga

**A Night With The Hyuuga**

Once again I welcome you to the next installment of Maiden of the Future. Today's chapter will focus on the Hyuuga family as the title suggests. I don't really have much to say today so I guess I will respond to a few of your reviews:

**89niners-best-team-ever**: I wouldn't consider chapter 5 a Naruto bash chapter, because I never meant it to be. I would agree with you in the sense that Naruto isn't the only one to blame in keeping women hanging, but he's the focus of this story, so he's the one I focus on. I will have to thank you though because you have been bringing up very logical questions on all my chapters and I have been trying to answer them in the following chapters lol, so keep up the questioning for me.

**naruhinalltheway** (across the sky like a double rainbow what does it all mean): Okay the username was just the bolded part but I would have added the part in the bracket as well if I ever you lol. Anyway you bring up a question I get a lot, and that is will Hinata be shown being pregnant with a second child? Well, of course you have to keep reading to find out. I don't want to spoil the story lol. But I do encourage you to make guesses or post your own take on things because it does help me a lot when I'm writing new chapters.

**thewolfdemon**: Your comment was so random it made me crack up. While I do love me some wolves and werewolves, I don't think they will be in this story. Simply because I don't know how I would fit them in; maybe you could give me some ideas lol. There may be foxes but just not wolves, let alone werewolves.

**Alostblueidiot**: Thanks for the compliment. Indeed Yuhi's traveling back to the past will affect the future, but in what way you will find out later. I hope your other question about the Hyuuga will be answered in this chapter ;)

**zyiarehellsing**: You post some very nice reviews, thank you so much for all of them. Btw, is that a gengar in your avatar?

Alright, so that's as many as I can reply for now, so here's the chapter.

* * *

With Naruto's scream the memory was cut off as everyone's face convulsed thinking about the pain Naruto must have felt.

A rather loud thud came from behind, which caused everyone to look around only to find Hinata sprawled out on the floor. She was out cold.

"I guess what she saw at the end was too much." Ino laughed slightly.

"I get a feeling we shouldn't be watching this." Chouji said with a rather neutral expression.

"Are you kidding me, this is gold. Exactly how many days in your life do you get to check out the future?" Tenten questioned with mirth. "The NaruHina on top makes it even better."

"I have to agree." Sakura nodded. "But Naruto, are you seriously saying you didn't realise what Shion's request was back then? She came on to you hard as well; guess she liked you a lot."

Naruto blushed slightly at the question. "Yeah, that was surprising to say the least. I guess I fail to realise when women are showing me affection. Same with Hinata-chan I suppose."

"Fail to realise is an understatement." Sakura added. "But it's very nice to see your future self care so much for Hinata. I'm kind of starting to feel jealous.

"Oh is forehead trying to steal present Naruto from Hinata?" Ino questioned jokingly.

"I won't let anyone steal Naruto-kun from me." Hinata bolted upright. "He's mine."

"Oh that was bold." Tenten cupped her right hand over her mouth. "You go Hinata."

Hinata had said that instinctively in her daze without even thinking. Once she realised what she had just said, she could do nothing else but cover her face in embarrassment.

"I was just joking. I won't steal him from you. I think you deserve him the most for sticking with his obliviousness for so long." Sakura proceeded to hit Naruto in the head lightly.

"Okay I've got the next one." Ino pointed towards a screen. "Let's have a look."

As Ino finished her words, once again the reality around them warped.

It was dark outside the Hyuuga compound. One could hear the constant sound of crickets from all directions. Hiashi sat at a kotatsu in the middle of a rather spacious room and seemed to be anticipating someone. From the beautiful decorations and its expansive nature, the room seemed to be used for greeting guests. Hiashi was busy making traditional green tea from the ground up; to him nothing beat the bliss of lukewarm tea to end the day.

The silence in the room was abruptly broken as the door was suddenly pulled open with a loud thud and a blonde man walked in with a large packet at hand.

"Hey old man, how's life been treating you lately?" Naruto asked while unceremoniously barging in.

"Boy, I'm Hiashi-sama to you. Show some respect to the head of the Hyuuga clan and your father in law." Hiashi said in a calm but firm tone.

"Well technically I'm hokage-sama to you. Even more technically you are no longer the head of the Hyuuga clan, you've relinquished that title to your elder daughter from this day forward." Naruto proceeded to open up the packet he brought to reveal an assortment of Japanese sweets. He knew Hiashi had a sweet tooth.

"Boy, is this your attempt at a stealth assassination? Those sweets will kill a diabetic like me. You have a terrible choice in food."

"Chilax, they are sugar free. If it was me I would bring ramen but I was actually trying to be considerate. I still don't quite understand the mind-set you big boys roll with; it's like whatever I do I can never please you. If you ask me though, I think you really could do with some sweets. Who knows, maybe it will sweeten up your personality a little. Help yourself." Naruto gestured at the sweets as he took one out and swallowed it whole.

Hiashi who was much more civilised at his discourse first handed Naruto the cup of green tea that he just finished brewing and a plate to keep this food. Even he had to agree that the sweets looked rather enticing, so Hiashi proceeded to take a bite off a succulent looking Dorayaki. With just one bite the anko inside the sweet filled his entire mouth sending off his taste buds into heaven. Oh how lovely the texture was, so much so that his eyes almost started to water, but he had to hold his tears in. Poor Hiashi always loved sweets, but unfortunately for him he could never be caught sneaking into a confectionary or gorging down on some sweets. The consequences would be dire if the elders found out. Being a Hyuuga clan leader was tough, but now he was set free from his worries.

"So Hiashi-sama, are the sweets to your liking?" Naruto tried to imitate Hiashi's formal tone in jest as he took a sip of the green tea.

"Well they will pass. I suppose they are not too bad, but then again I can't expect too much from you in this regard." In reality though, those were some of the best sweets he had ever tasted. He wanted to know very badly where Naruto had managed to get his hands on such mouth-watering appetizers. Maybe he could sneak out of the compound and help himself to some now that he didn't have to worry about all the clan leader business.

"What the heck old man? I went to the other end of the village to bring you these from the best confectionary in Konoha and all I get is its passable? This is BULL-"

Hiashi gave a loud cough. "Mind your language. I'm sure my daughter next door would not be very pleased with what you were about to say." Hiashi reminded Naruto as he took a bite out of a Mochi.

"Yeah you are right; she wouldn't appreciate it. Plus you really don't want to see her angry. Oh the horrors I have witnessed; Hinata-chan could give my mother's title of the red habanero a run for its money." Naruto had a look of fear like no other on his face.

Hiashi could only imagine how horrendous the situations must have been for them to instil fear on the hokage, a man who was known for his unyielding bravery.

"But indeed she has brought me in line and helped me to become a better hokage than I ever imagined I could be." Naruto admitted.

"I guess the phrase "behind every successful man is a woman" applies very well here." Hiashi made a quick remark.

"Speaking about Hinata-chan, so how about it? I hope you still remember the challenge we made that night."

"How could I forget about that night? Just thinking about it makes my head spin. You didn't even leave your own wedding outside of the realms of your crazy antics." Hiashi shook his head as he remembered the headache inducing memories. "But nonetheless I was wrong; Hinata's growth was unprecedented. It seems I have indeed lost the challenge."

"I told you so. I said then that someday Hinata-chan will surpass even you, but you thought of it as mere jest. But now look at her; she's the head of the Hyuuga clan. Never underestimate the power of one's resolve." Naruto stated proudly.

"Guess you are right." Hiashi could only just agree. "I will tell you though since we have grown to know each other over the past few years; I was keeping an eye on Hinata to see how she improved and I was quite surprised at the pace she improved. I had never seen her work as diligently as she did when she trained with you."

"I guess she needed a change in atmosphere, is all." Naruto took another sip of the tea. "You ready to pay up old man?"

"Fine, I shall entertain whatever request you may have as long as it is under my capability of course." Hiashi said with a smirk.

As soon as Hiashi finished his sentence, someone knocked on the door. "May I come in father?" Hanabi's voice could be heard from outside.

"You may come in." Hiashi responded.

As soon as the door opened, a very energetic Yuhi charged her father and tackled him to the ground. "DADDY!" Yuhi shouted. "I knew you were here."

"That's amazing my little princess. Oh and I got your favourite, dango." Naruto picked up his daughter's favourite sweet from the box and gently fed it to her.

"Tdes ish rwealy amaeing." Yuhi tried to say something but it didn't make any sense since she had a mouthful.

"Now Yuhi, how many times have I told you to not speak with your mouth full?" Naruto scolded his daughter very lightly. "Finish your food first."

"It's okay Naruto-san, she's just a kid. Plus she's such a good girl." Hanabi defended Yuhi. "We had a lot of fun didn't we Yuhi-chan?"

"Hanabi oba-chan is so much fun." Yuhi was overjoyed. "We went outside to catch fireflies in the garden."

"Is that so? I'm glad you enjoyed it Yuhi." Naruto took a leftover crumb of sweet on Yuhi's face and ate it himself.

"By the way Naruto-san, what brings you here today?" Hanabi asked as she sat down on her father's side.

"Well not much, I just got done with my work for the day so I thought I would come over and pick up Hinata-chan and Yuhi up. Plus getting to have a talk with your father is always entertaining." Naruto explained as he gave Yuhi another dango.

"I see, well I think onee-san is almost done."

"Oh by the way, I almost forgot to mention. I have decided I would like to appoint you as one of the Anbu Black Ops unit under my direct command." Naruto said very casually.

"WHAT?" Hanabi was the only one in the room who was flabbergasted. She looked over to her father who was still casually taking a bite out of a sweet. "ANBU? Are you serious?"

"Yeah why not?" Naruto asked while taking another sip from his teacup. "I talked about this with your father a while back. He assisted me in observing you in your training. Plus I have been keeping an eye on your mission reports as well, which have been exceptional to say the least."

"Wait you were observing my training?" Hanabi asked as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yeah. Before I offer the position of Anbu to anyone, I like to personally know in detail about their strengths and weaknesses. After all, the Anbu have to be the elite of the elite so that they can undertake some of the most dangerous missions most ninja wouldn't even want to think about. So the process of picking each of them individually lies on the hokage. And I think you are up to the task, but of course it is up to you whether you want to accept the position or not. I'm sure you understand the risks and rewards involved, so I will leave it up to you to decide." Naruto finished explaining.

Hanabi looked down at the table. "Wow, I don't know what to say. I'm just surprised."

"It's okay. You don't have to answer me now. Take your time and let me know when you have decided. I'll be waiting for your answer."

As Naruto finished what he was saying, another knock came from the door. "May I come in?" This time it was Hinata's voice.

"Yes come in." Hiashi replied.

Hinata walked in with a smile as Yuhi ran over to give her mother a hug.

"So how was your first day as clan leader Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"It was extremely tiring. The elders can be somewhat hard to deal with and there are a lot of technical aspects that I have to learn. Gladly father has helped me quite a bit in the last few days, so it's not too bad." Hinata replied as she sat next to Naruto with her daughter on her lap.

"Glad to hear." Naruto hugged Hinata from the side. "Oh and I brought your favourite Cinnamon buns as congratulations." Naruto put a few Cinnamon buns on a plate and handed it to Hinata.

"Thank you so much Naruto-kun. I could really have something sweet." Hinata gladly accepted.

"Yes indeed, I'm also happy to hear you are managing to settle in." Hanabi said happily. "I think the occasion calls for a celebration."

"That's a brilliant idea Hanabi-chan." Naruto replied. "So old man, how about as payment for losing that challenge we had you take us all out for dinner to a restaurant of Hinata-chan's choosing?"

"I shall do so gladly." Hiashi replied with a smile. "What do you choose my dear daughter?"

"Thank you father. How about we all go to Ichiraku?" Hinata asked looking at everyone.

"YES ICHIRAKU. Let's go." Yuhi was overjoyed at the idea of being able to eat at her favourite ramen stand.

"Are you sure about this Hinata-chan? I mean I love Ichiraku but wouldn't you want to go somewhere more suited to your taste?" Naruto was trying to be considerate.

"Are you saying Ichiraku isn't to my taste?" Hinata questioned back in a teasing tone.

"No that's not what I meant. It's just-" As Naruto was trying to explain, Hinata made her reply.

"It's okay; I understand what you mean Naruto-kun. I guess being with you for so long has made me acquire an appreciation for ramen. Plus you get a family atmosphere in Ichiraku that you don't get elsewhere. So I insist."

"Well if you want to go, then who am I to complain?" Naruto now looked over from Hinata to Hiashi. "I hope you are ready old man; you are about to go broke cause I'm starving."

"Ho boy. Even with our illustrious status, I don't know if the Hyuuga's bank account could handle Naruto-san's tab at Ichiraku." Hanabi joked.

"I would much rather the Hyuuga became beggars than not being able to take the hokage out to dinner for a night. Even more so when the hokage happens to be your son-in-law." Hiashi replied.

"I think we will be fine." Hinata chuckled at the conversation. "How about we get going?"

Everyone got up at Hinata's suggestion and made their way out of the Hyuuga compound. As they walked down the streets of Konoha, bystanders would look at the company in awe. After all it wasn't every day that you saw the hokage's family and some of the most important Hyuuga walking down the streets.

Naruto himself was very down to earth and a man of the villagers. He was never prideful of his position as hokage, but rather he thought of it as a position bestowed upon him by the acknowledgement of all the villagers. So he did his best to always be in contact with his precious inhabitants of Konoha and solve all of their problems, even on a personal basis. Hence in return the villagers trusted and respected him to a great degree. Children would run to him in admiration and elders would give him blessings as he walked down the streets of Konoha. This could turn a leisurely stroll into an hour-long journey sometimes. Such was the case tonight where the stroll to Ichiraku which normally took 10 minutes turned into a 30 minute walk. But once they got there, the restaurant was packed.

Upon becoming hokage, Naruto made a sizeable investment on expanding the Ichiraku business. The capacity was increased to about five times what was previously possible, but he did not want to turn it into any other restaurant in the process. So Ichiraku remained a ramen stand, but a very long ramen stand at that. The staff had also been increased accordingly to accommodate the higher amount of patrons.

As the party walked in, Teuchi and Ayame who were busy working at their stations came out to welcome them. When their favourite customer was here, nothing was more important than to greet him in.

"Naruto, having dinner with your in-laws?" Teuchi questioned with a beaming face.

"Yup, Hiashi-sama over here has agreed to treat us to dinner and Hinata-chan has chosen Ichiraku. I'm just tagging along for once." Naruto replied back.

"Thank you Hinata-san for choosing us. I would have imagined the Hyuuga would choose someplace more extravagant for a dinner outing, but we are honoured to be able to serve you." Ayame was a bit nervous at the presence of Hanabi and Hiashi, who were both akin to royalty in the village. She knew Hinata herself was a kind soul as she tagged along with Naruto from time to time.

"There is no need for you to feel that way; Ichiraku is the pride and joy of the hidden leaf village." Hinata consoled Ayame. "I don't think anybody would argue about that. I mean you have the hokage's approval after all."

"Thank you." Ayame was glad. "Oh and Yuhi-chan it's so nice to see you again."

"You too Ayame-nee." Yuhi replied happily from behind Naruto.

"I suppose once in a while it might not be a bad idea to have an ordinary cuisine for a change." Hiashi said looking around.

"I have to agree with father." Hanabi nodded. "I haven't had ramen for a while, so this should be good. Ichiraku has become a hotspot in Konoha after all due to the hokage's frequent visits."

"Anyway can we get eating already? I'm starved." Naruto asked sitting down in a nearby chair and picking his daughter up on his lap. The others followed suit. "I'll have a miso ramen with beef bones. You know the usual."

"I'll have whatever daddy is having." Yuhi ordered as well.

"I'll have what Naruto-kun is having." Hinata ordered kindly.

"I'm interested in Naruto-san's choice. So I'll be having that." Hanabi ordered having glanced through the menu.

"I suppose I shall test the hokage's choice in food." Hiashi stated. "I have received intelligence that he has an acquired taste when it comes to ramen."

"Wow I guess everyone wants what Naruto wants." Teuchi looked slightly dumbfounded. "Miso ramen coming up for everyone."

Within a few minutes the ramen was served and everyone dug in. As they ate, it was a good time to catch up and have some casual conversation. So Hanabi started by directing a few questions at the couple.

"How do you and onee-san manage to take care of Yuhi-chan by yourselves? Isn't it hard with your busy schedules?" Hanabi asked.

"Hinata-chan is the one who mostly takes care of Yuhi at home. She did have maternity leave for a while after Yuhi was born, but now that Yuhi has grown a bit older Hinata-chan had to return to active duty. So sometimes I have to take Yuhi with me to my office when Hinata-chan is off on missions." Naruto explained the situation while slurping down an entire bowl of ramen. "Now that Hinata-chan has become clan head though, she won't be going to missions but I imagine she will be extremely occupied with clan duties. So we will have to see what we can do about Yuhi. She's a good girl though, so I'm sure things will work out."

"Well if that is the case then I will take care of my granddaughter henceforth." Hiashi's statement seemed more of a demand than a suggestion.

"Wait, are you sure you are up for it old man? You ain't no spring chicken no more." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Yes I'm very sure. What do you say my dear grand-daughter? Would you like to stay with your grandfather while your parents are busy? I promise to take you to the confectionary you seem to like and buy you dangos every day." Hiashi urged while ruffling Yuhi's hair.

"I'll stay with grandpa." Yuhi looked very excited at the prospect. "Oh and can we also get ramen?"

"Any time you wish." Hiashi agreed.

"Can we go to the park?" Yuhi asked.

"Any day you wish." Hiashi replied.

"Can you teach me the spinny thing you did against mommy?" Yuhi kept on asking for more.

"I'll teach you all the Hyuuga secret techniques I know." Hiashi conformed.

"Yay grandpa you are the best." Yuhi gave her grandfather a hug, who was sitting next to her and moved over to his lap. The two kept on discussing all of their future plans, completely forgetting about the people around them.

"I think father is going to spoil her." Hanabi warned. "Well, that's not to say I won't contribute as well when I'm around."

"Hinata-chan I think your family is going to be a bad influence on our child." Naruto joked. "Maybe we should reconsider."

"Maybe so, but I think it will be good for both Yuhi-chan and father. Now that father does not have to worry about clan duties, I believe it will do him much good both mentally and physically to have a kid around. I have no doubt Yuhi will keep him busy and I'm sure they will also enjoy each other's company." Hinata looked over at her father and daughter engulfed in their little world. Truly the tie of a family was something beautiful.

"Oh, I have another question." Hanabi said while putting a topping in her mouth.

"You two look like you are very close, but when you first got married, what were some major issues you had with each other? You have had to have some problems no matter how much you may love each other."

Hinata giggled at the question. "As much as I would love to say Naruto-kun is perfect, he is not without his faults. The main problem I had to deal with was his eating habits. Every single day and every single meal of his consisted of nothing but ramen. I still wonder how he managed to keep himself in good shape for all his younger years."

"Don't say that Hinata-chan." Naruto looked visibly sad. "You know how much I love ramen."

"I appreciate that you love ramen, but your addiction to it was never healthy." Hinata replied to Naruto before looking over at Hanabi. "I remember how much he hated eating vegetables. So much so that I had to tie him up on occasions and force feed it to him. That was no easy task. It took a while, but after experimenting with different cooking techniques, I eventually managed to turn his diet into something more balanced than just ramen only."

"For some reason, that doesn't sound too far-fetched." Hanabi acknowledged. "So how about you Naruto-san, did you have any problems with onee-san?"

"Hmm, let me think. Your sister isn't the type of person who you would normally have problems with. She always cared for me first and then herself, so I really can't say much." Naruto was deep in thought. "But the one major problem that I had initially was her constant stuttering and fainting."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that since she doesn't have those problems anymore." Hanabi had a sudden realisation. "But when Onee-san younger, she would be very shy, especially around you Naruto-san."

"Yeah and that didn't stop for a while even after we got married." Naruto explained. "It was kind of bad when I would come home and give her a hug from behind only to have her faint in my arms for an hour. Then she should wake up, see my face in front of her and faint for another hour."

"I-It wasn't t-that b-bad." Hinata's stuttering had returned once again. She was blushing furiously.

"OHHHHH, I made you blush." Naruto celebrated in joy. "How long has it been since you last stuttered?"

"I-I'm not blushing." Hinata denied the accusation even though her cheeks were bright red.

"You so are." Hanabi added while laughing her heart out.

"Mommy you are blushing." Yuhi stated what she observed.

"I do have to comply with the others; you are blushing daughter." Hiashi said in a matter of fact-ly tone.

"Leave me alone!" Hinata responded in embarrassment.

"Okay that's probably enough. If we keep going, I might not get food for a month, and I love Hinata-chan's cooking too much to miss it." Naruto smiled. "But honestly Hinata-chan, I actually think you are very cute when you are shy. You are a lot more confident now, which is great but I do love the moments when you act all embarrassed and start stuttering. It reminds me of our roots and how much you loved me."

Naruto's comment made Hinata also reflect on her younger days when she couldn't muster the courage to tell Naruto her feelings. But now was different. "I may not be as shy as I used to be Naruto-kun, but my love for you has only become greater than it ever was."

"I know." Naruto replied. "And I love you more and more every day I'm with you Hinata-chan. Thank you for being with me."

At their last comments, the other customers all started to cheer loudly and applaud the couple. Naruto and Hinata only just realised what they had said out in public and looked down in embarrassment.

After having about 30 bowls of ramen, Naruto had finished for the night. It never ceased to amaze anyone how much ramen Naruto could eat; it was as if there was a black hole in his stomach which would only accept ramen and nothing else. As they finished, Hiashi and Hanabi parted ways towards the Hyuuga complex while Yuhi grabbed a hold of both of her parents' hands in turn and pulled them along towards their own sweet home.

The memory was cut off at that final moment of tranquillity.

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Hope you enjoyed. This was a fun chapter to write. Inspiration between some of Naruto and Hiashi's interaction was taken from an anime called "Kaze no stigma" where the protagonist Kazuma also calls his father old man. If you haven't watched the anime, check it out; its probably one of the best romance/action anime out there. As for next chapter, I can't wait to write it. It will be featuring Sasuke pretty much, so all you Sasuke fans rejoice; I know you are out there.

Thanks again for reading and I encourage you as always to leave a review; they really help me out. If you leave a review I'll be as happy as a camel in front of a pond of water. Wait are camel's happy when they see water? I think so. Until next time, take care.


	7. Time travel will tell Part 1

**Time Travel Will Tell Part 1**

Welcome back, and glad to have you back. First of all, I know I said this would be a chapter dedicated to Sasuke, but sadly that is not the case. This is mainly because once I got to writing into the Sasuke chapter, I came across a bit of a creative roadblock in terms of what to write. Now that doesn't mean I won't be writing the chapter, but it just means that it'll take a bit longer for me to get it out. So for now the Sasuke chapter is going to be on hiatus, until I manage to write something post-worthy.

As for this chapter, this is very special and you will find out why. That is all I will say. I guess the other thing that I can say is that this chapter is slightly shorter when compared to some of the previous chapters I have written, but that is mainly because I just got out of a pretty bad fever and my head hurts when I try to think/write too much. One good thing though is that since it's summer and I'm with my parents, my mom has been taking care of me while I have been ill. It just kind of reminded me of how invaluable parents are, especially since I'm writing about this topic on this fic quite a lot.

Anyway, I think I'll let you guys read. My head is spinning anyway lol.

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The memory was cut off at that final moment of tranquility.

"I counted, that was thirty bowls." Chouji looked at Naruto with admiration in his eyes. "Even by Akimichi standards, that is commendable."

"Good grief, no wonder future Hinata said she had to tie him up to feed him anything else other than ramen." Tenten looked disgusted. "I wonder how you manage to eat so much of the same thing."

"Well what can I say, I just love ramen." Naruto scratched his head with a silly smile on his face.

"Was it just me or was Hiashi-sama very friendly with future Naruto." Neji questioned as he tried to evaluate what he saw. "I don't think I have ever seen him talk so openly with anyone."

"Yeah I actually noticed that as well." Tenten also seemed surprised at what she saw. "I thought when Naruto called him old man he would Hyuuga death glare Naruto to death. But by Hyuuga standards he almost seemed to be accepting Naruto's title of him as mere jest."

"I feel the same way." Neji looked over at Naruto. "Are you by any chance a secret acquaintance of Hiashi-sama?"

"Hey don't look at me like that. I know Hyuuga Hiashi as much as I know fine dining. Meaning I know nothing." Naruto cleared off all accusations. "I've only seen him once formally after becoming hokage during the initiation ceremony."

"Well if you paid close attention to their conversation, you could hear Hiashi saying that he got to know Naruto over the past few years, going as far as to helping Naruto in observing Hanabi Hyuuga's training. Naruto also seemed close enough to him to be able to refer to him very informally, which for the Hyuuga is uncalled for." Shikamaru decided to add in his few cents. "So I'm imagining he and Naruto somehow got closer after Naruto became hokage, and then further after he married Hinata."

"Yes indeed what you say makes sense." Neji agreed. "But I still find it difficult to admit that Naruto could become so chummy with the Hyuuga clan head. It's mind boggling to me."

"Oh and it looks like you are doing pretty well as the new Hyuuga clan leader." Naruto looked over at Hinata with a big grin on his face.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata couldn't help but feel happy about Naruto's compliment. "B-But that was f-future me."

"Future you, you, same difference." Naruto affirmed.

Hinata blushed at Naruto's comment. She felt kind of annoyed at herself for getting so flustered at every contact she had with Naruto, especially when she saw how much more confident her future self had gotten. But at the same time she remembered future Naruto's comment on how he found Hinata's shyness kind of cute. She thought maybe it wasn't all bad, and over time being around Naruto she could become more certain about herself. After all her future self still seemed to have some of the shyness that she currently has as well, but lesser.

"Ino, found the next one yet?" Sakura asked as she saw Ino sorting through the memories. "I want to see the next one bad."

"Yeah found one." Ino replied. "This one seems to have some very special individuals. Let's get this started."

As always, everyone was teleported to the destination where the memory originated.

It was another glorious morning in Konoha and Hinata was repeating her daily ritual of brushing her hair in front of the mirror. It was no easy task keeping her hair as long, smooth and silky as it was. Naruto also seemed to appreciate long hair, so it gave her even more reason to take special care of it. Yuhi was also up and now she was jumping on top of Naruto and Hinata's bed. Naruto who was still trying to get some sleep was being shown no mercy by his daughter, the splash damage of whose jumps were becoming increasingly more devastating by the second.

"Yuhi-chan, please let your daddy sleep." Naruto requested pulling the thick blanket over his head.

"No, wake up. Wake up daddy, WAKE UP." Yuhi shouted.

"Please I beg you, let me sleep another five minutes." Naruto turned around trying to avoid the chaos.

Yuhi jumped over Naruto and started bouncing up and down in front of his face. There was no escape.

"Hinata-chan, save me please." Naruto begged for help from under the blanket.

Hinata who wasn't playing much attention to the other two now finally decided it was time for her to act. "Okay Yuhi-chan, come down from there." Hinata ordered. "And Naruto-kun, you really do need to wake up now, it's already quarter to nine."

"QUARTER TO NINE ALREADY?" Naruto shouted in surprise as he pulled off his blankets to take a look at the clock. "Oh snap, I've a meeting at nine. I got to run." With his last words Naruto rushed off to the bathroom to quickly get refreshed.

"Yuhi-chan, your father is in a hurry okay, so don't get in his way. Stay here with me." Hinata said kindly to her daughter as she put her down from the bed. Hinata then started to make the bed. Yuhi looked around the room to find her next target, which happened to be her parents' wardrobe. She ran to it and opened up the bottom drawer. Hinata decided not to pay much attention as the wardrobe needed a bit of cleaning anyway.

To Yuhi's surprise she found a very peculiar looking box sealed by a lock which got her attention. The lock further increased her interest in finding out what was inside. So Yuhi quickly activated her Byakugan to find a key that fit the shape of the lock hidden in a pouch on one of the top drawers. So she located the key and proceeded to open up the lock that kept the steel box closed shut. Once the lock was opened, Yuhi found that she still couldn't open the box as it had some form of sealing jutsu still keeping it shut. There seemed to be five spots for one to put their fingertips on the seal. Yuhi decided to put her fingertips at those spots and to her surprise, the box clicked open. So she proceeded to lift the lid to find a very peculiar looking three-pronged kunai and a very old looking book lying inside the box. She picked up the two items in her hands and was over-excited to find out more about what she held in her hands.

"Mommy, look what I found." Yuhi cheered in joy.

Hinata who had just finished making the bed decided to turn around to see what had garnered her daughter's attention. Hinata's eyes widened once she saw what her daughter was holding in her hands.

"Yuhi-chan, where did you get that?" Hinata asked as she rushed over to Yuhi. "No more importantly, put them down, NOW." Hinata ordered in a very serious tone as she grabbed Yuhi's hand that was holding the kunai.

But as soon as Hinata grabbed Yuhi's hand, something happened. A bright light flashed from the kunai which outshined and blinded the entire area. Hinata quickly held her daughter in a tight embrace to protect her from any impending danger. As a few moments passed and the shock from the bright flash of light dissipated, Hinata and Yuhi both opened their eyes and Hinata took the kunai off of her daughter's hand. They were sitting in the same spot in their room, but the room seemed to be different. The furniture was different from the usual and the positioning was also altered. Both Hinata and Yuhi were confused at what was happening, when they heard some voices coming from downstairs. So Hinata decided to get closer to the stairs to hear what was being said, but at the same time tried be keep a low profile just in case this was some sort of attack by an enemy. Hinata put a finger in front of her lip to indicate to her daughter not make any noise or give up her position. Yuhi understood what her mother was indicating and obliged.

"The main character of this book…I thought his determination to never give up was really cool…He's a lot like you sensei." A man's voice came from downstairs.

"Y-You think so…?" Another much older man seemed to question in response. This voice seemed to be somewhat familiar to Hinata; she had heard it before.

"So I was thinking…I hope my unborn child can become a ninja just like this character, which is why I would like your permission to name my son after him." The younger man requested the older man kindly.

"H-Hey! Are you sure?" The older man was audibly caught off guard. "It's just a random name that I thought up while eating ramen."

"Naruto…It's a wonderful name." This time it was a serene voice of a woman.

"Kushina." The older man replied. "Are you sure about this?"

"You are my sensei and one who possesses the true talent of a ninja. There's no other like you." The younger man explained compassionately.

Hinata was taken aback when she heard the names Naruto and Kushina. At that moment Yuhi fidgeted around causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor, making a loud thumping noise. Hinata realised their cover was blown as she heard the three people downstairs making their moves after being alerted of their presence. Hinata pushed her daughter aside so that she could not be seen.

"Kushina stay back." The younger man ordered as he came out into the hallway leading upstairs. "Who are you? Identify yourself."

Hinata's eyes widened as she looked at a man who looked almost identical to Naruto, except he had slightly longer bangs than Naruto and he wore a blue full sleeved shirt as opposed to the sleeping dress Naruto was wearing moments ago.

"Kushina stay behind us. Minato and I will handle this." The older man now came rushing out."

"Jiraiya-sama…" Hinata let the words slip out as she could not believe what she was seeing. Jiraiya who was meant to be long dead was standing in front of her eyes. From the name Minato and the pictures she had seen of him, Hinata quickly also realised that it was none other than the fourth hokage standing in front of her eyes.

"Jiraiya-sensei, it seems she recognises you. Do you know her by any chance? Plus she also seems to be holding a copy of your book."

Jiraiya looked at Hinata's right hand only to find her holding a copy of "Tales of a gutsy".

"No way, someone actually bought my book? Impossible." Jiraiya was astonished.

"Maybe a fan who wants an autograph? You know you didn't have to go to such lengths; I even had a book signing session but no one turned up."

"I don't think now's the time for that sensei." Minato sweat dropped at his master's remarks. "But seriously, who are you?"

At that moment, a red-haired woman peeked out from the side of the hallway. "What's going on?"

As soon as Hinata saw her she realised who she was. Naruto had explained to her many times about how his mother looked like and Hinata had seen pictures of her before. This woman was named Kushina and fit exactly Naruto's description of her. Hinata was starting to question her reality now.

Yuhi decided she wanted to be part of the commotion and appeared besides her mother. The three downstairs looked at the girl in awe; there was something about her that seemed so familiar. Minato also noticed at that point the kunai Hinata was holding in her other hand.

"That kunai…it's mine." Minato pulled out the exact same kunai from his pouch. "How did you get that?"

Hinata finally regained her composure and started to put all the pieces together. It was starting to become clear to her what had happened. "I'm the wife of your son Naruto, and this is our daughter Yuhi." Hinata explained trying to keep her composure.

"WHAT?" The three downstairs shouted in unison.

A minute later, Hinata and Yuhi were sitting in the company of Jiraiya, Minato and Kushina in the dining table. Hinata had just explained exactly what had happened a few moments ago and how they got here.

"I see, I think I'm starting to understand what happened." Minato remarked, deep in thought. "That kunai allows me to travel through space at lightning pace, so it does not come as a surprise that it could also perhaps allow one to move through time. After all, space and time are one and the same."

"Wait are you serious Minato?" Jiraiya asked with a bewildered face. "You are actually saying they time travelled to the past?"

"But everything that they say matches up sensei." Minato stated re-evaluating the situation. "Plus they have that kunai and your book."

"So they are my future daughter in law and granddaughter?" Kushina was getting excited as she looked over at Minato, who gave her a reassuring nod in return. At that gesture Kushina ran over to Hinata and Yuhi and engulfed them in a gigantic hug. "This is hard to believe, but today may just be my luckiest day. I'm so glad we were able to meet."

As Kushina broke the embrace, Yuhi clutched on to her mother not knowing how to react to the unknown people in front of her. "Mommy, who are they?"

"Yuhi-chan, there's no need to be afraid. They are your grandparents from your father's side. Plus the older man with the white hair is your father's master; the one who taught him the rasengan." Hinata explained to her daughter pointing at each of the individuals in front of them in turn.

Yuhi finally returned to her normal enthusiastic nature once her mother introduced the three to her. "You mean he's the one who taught daddy this?" Yuhi put her hand in front of her face and formed a spiralling blue ball of energy.

Seeing a five year old performing the rasengan, Jiraiya fell off his chair and Minato's jaw dropped. Kushina held the edge of the table not to fall off like Jiraiya and potentially harm her unborn child, but she was just as surprised nonetheless.

"Sensei, tell me my eyes aren't deceiving me." Minato rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "A five year old girl didn't just use my A-ranked technique."

"Don't ask me, these old eyes have now started showing me illusions." Jiraiya was also in a state of shock.

"No that definitely is the Rasengan." Kushina confirmed.

Hinata giggled at their reaction; they were Naruto's family indeed. Yuhi finished the technique and looked at the others not understanding what it was that made them look so flabbergasted.

"Wow you can already use the rasengan, that's my granddaughter alright." Kushina gave Yuhi another hug. This time Yuhi actually returned the hug back.

"Thanks grandma." She replied.

"Wow, when I get called that it makes me feel so old." Kushina said scratching her head. "But Yuhi-chan, was it your father that taught you the rasengan?"

"No, it was mommy." Yuhi said looking at Hinata.

"You taught her the rasengan dear?" Jiraiya asked pointing at Hinata. "So that means you also know the technique." Jiraiya looked over at Minato and said, "Wow Minato, your son has one crazy family."

"Tell me about it." Minato was still looking bewildered. "Next thing they will tell me is that every ninja in the future knows the rasengan. Not that it's a bad thing, but I always thought it was a very hard technique to learn."

"Actually, in the future where we come from, the rasengan is almost a technique exclusive to the Uzumaki family." Hinata replied. "Me, Yuhi-chan and Naruto-kun know the technique, but there are two other people besides us who know it as well. One is Kakashi-sensei, who I believe is your student Minato-sama and the other is Konohamaru-kun, the grandson of the third hokage and Naruto-kun's student."

"Wow that's amazing." Jiraiya exclaimed. "Hinata, you said something about me being Naruto's teacher. If you don't mind, could you elaborate? The whole prospect of knowing about the future is very exciting."

"Yeah I want to know about my son's future too Hinata-chan, and who better to know it but from his wife." Kushina also seemed equally excited.

"Sure Jiraiya-sama, I can explain." Hinata smiled. "In the future you are one of the closest people to Naruto-kun. Not only are you his master, but you are also a father figure to him."

Jiraiya slightly blushed knowing his lofty position. Minato noticed that and remarked, "It's nice to know sensei is so important, but I would believe that I would play the role of an outstanding father." Minato was confident at his fatherhood.

Once Hinata heard the remark, her smile faded and she looked down, not knowing how to answer the question. Kushina picked up on the change in expression.

"What's the matter Hinata-chan?" Kushina asked. "You can tell us."

"I'm terribly sorry to say this at a time of your great happiness, but both you and Minato-sama died at the day when Naruto-kun was born." A tear dropped from Hinata's eyes.

Instantly everyone's expressions changed. Kushina also started to shed tears as Minato held her close to her. Jiraiya did not know what to say.

"But how?" Minato asked in a very serious tone. "What happened?"

"You see, at the night of Naruto-kun's birth, a masked man attacks Kushina-sama at the moment she gives birth to release and control the nine-tailed fox to attack the hidden leaf village. After that both of you sacrifice your lives to protect Naruto-kun and Minato-sama seals the nine-tailed fox inside him."

"Wait, Minato knowingly seals the Nine-tails inside Naruto?" Kushina could not believe what Hinata was saying. "The life of a jinchuuriki is A LIVING HELL."

"Yes Minato-sama does seal the Nine-tailed fox inside Naruto-kun, but that was because he believed that someday Naruto-kun would be able to control that power to defeat the masked man and protect the ninja world." Hinata explained the reasoning behind Minato's decision.

"It seems like the future is quite grim." Minato looked down in sorrow. "I burdened my son with tremendous odds. Does he manage to find happiness?"

"As Kushina-sama said, since Naruto-kun was the jinchuuriki, many of the villagers blamed him for the casualties caused by the nine-tails' attack on konoha. Despite Minato-sama asking for the villagers to treat Naruto-kun like a hero for jailing the fox, the villagers treated him like trash and shunned him aside." Hinata was now also in tears.

Kushina who was sitting next to her now held Hinata to share her pain.

"It seems we were horrible parents." Kushina cried.

"Yeah, we caused nothing but pain to our son." Tears also started to roll down Minato's eyes as he felt he failed as a father.

"But Naruto-kun never hated you for it." Hinata comforted Naruto's parents. "In fact he considers the two of you as the reason why he was able to achieve everything he has."

"He did?" Kushina looked up in hope.

"Indeed. Although very few people in the village know about Naruto-kun's heritage, he did tell me about who his parents were." Hinata looked at the two gratefully. "He said that an essence of his parents was sealed inside of him and they helped him overcome some of the toughest obstacles in life."

"Really?" Minato was amazed at the revelation.

"Yes, even to this day Naruto-kun reveres the two of you as the best parents he could ever have and does his very best to carry on your legacy." Hinata replied. "He loves you both with all his heart."

Kushina and Minato couldn't help but smile at each other for giving birth to such an amazing child. They both wiped each other's tears as their sorrow was replaced by joy from hearing Hinata's words.

"Although the villagers initially thought of Naruto-kun as a threat to them, slowly but steadily he persevered to become accepted and loved by the entire village." Hinata felt so proud talking about Naruto's achievements to his parents. "So much so that he is now considered as the greatest hokage of the hidden leaf village. Not to mention, Naruto-kun was even able to befriend the nine-tailed fox itself."

Both Minato and Kushina's eyes beamed with joy as they thought about the amazing feats their unborn child would go on to achieve. The best part was that they were able to become stepping stones to their child's success. That was one thing every parent dreams of; Minato and Kushina were no different in that regard.

"It seems your wish came through Minato." Jiraiya patted Minato's back. "Your son seems to have become just like the character that I wrote in my book, only hundred times better."

"That book plays a very significant role in Naruto-kun's life." Hinata elaborated. "He considers that book to contain some of the main missions in his life. After all it was the same book that you entrusted him in hopes that he would be the one to bring peace upon the ninja world. And I'm very glad to say that he is well on his way to achieving that dream."

"I thought this book was just proof of my failure as a writer." Jiraiya admitted. "But to think that it has caused such huge impact on the ninja world is unimaginable."

"See sensei, what did I tell you? You have a natural talent for writing." Minato complimented Jiraiya.

"If raw numbers are concerned, I would say you are quite the opposite of a failure." Hinata reassured Jiraiya. "Your books are some of the bestselling across the nations. Every one of them is a hit sales-wise, after the first one."

"YEAH!" Jiraiya stood up from his chair rejoicing. "I always knew I could become an amazing writer, even though people said I write like a child."

"Ano-" Hinata didn't want to be the one to shatter Jiraiya's self-confidence. "Your books definitely do sell, but the materials they cover are questionable at best."

"Huh, what does that mean?" Jiraiya looked confused.

"I-I think I'll keep that information withheld." Hinata replied not wanting to explain the content of Jiraiya's books in the presence of her child. It was shameful regardless.

"Ne-ne Hinata-chan, so who does Naruto go after? Is he like his father or like me?" Kushina definitely wanted to know more about her son. Minato looked just as intrigued.

"Naruto-kun almost looks like a carbon copy of the Minato-sama. In fact he looks so similar that even though people do not know Naruto-kun is Minato-sama's actual son, they still call him the Yondaime's legacy just based up his looks." Hinata described Naruto's features. Kushina although proud of Naruto's resemblance of Minato couldn't help but feel a bit sad that he didn't gain anything from her.

Hinata noticed the slight sadness in Kushina's eyes. "But Naruto-kun always tells me how his character is exactly like yours Kushina-sama. And now that I have personally met you, I can definitely say that talking to you is almost like I'm talking to Naruto-kun himself."

Kushina felt overjoyed at the fact that her son took after her in personality. But as she learned more about her son, something piqued her interest.

"Hinata-chan, for all this time you have pretty much been talking about Naruto. I can see how much you care for him, but I think it's about time you told us a bit more about yourself." Kushina looked at Hinata and Yuhi in turn. "I want to know about my son's beloved wife and my beautiful granddaughter."

The conversation was just getting started.

* * *

Just think about it. Time travel within time travel. Time travel-ception. I think I blew my own mind when I thought of writing this chapter, but I went ahead anyway. Plus I decided to break it up into parts since the entire trip would be too big to put into one chapter, or so I thought.

Anyway, please do let me know of your thoughts in reviews. Until next time, let's hope I'm fully better *cough* *cough* *cough* *Goes to take a few paracetamols*


	8. Time travel will tell Part 2

**Time Travel Will Tell Part 2**

First of all, I am very sorry for not updating for almost a month. I have been preoccupied with some important matters, mainly the fact that my results came out and university classes will be resuming shortly. I have had to choose a lot of the topics that I'll be studying this upcoming year. So time had to be spent researching my options. On top of that there are all the boring stuff regarding registration and getting all the loans sorted out in time for next year. But nonetheless, having one chapter a month is inexcusable and I'll do my best to update more frequently.

With all that said, I hope you will enjoy this chapter as it will conclude the "Time travel will tell" segment. So I'll leave you to it.

* * *

The conversation was just getting started.

Hinata felt shy when Kushina asked her to describe more of herself. She loved to talk about Naruto but never really talked much about herself. Not that she thought there was much to talk about her anyway.

"As I said, tell us more about yourself Hinata. I can tell you are a Hyuuga, but how did you and Naruto meet? Who confessed first? I want to know all the juicy deta…"

Kushina was cut-off by the doorbell.

"I'll get that." Minato said as he got up and headed towards the door.

"Ha-Harumi-san?" One could hear Minato's surprised voice from the doorway.

Harumi. A name that was all too dear to Hinata. But she thought it was nothing more than coincidence that this person that arrived was also named Harumi.

"Haru!" Kushina ran over to her guest who had just entered the room, and held her hands.

Hinata's world turned upside down. The woman that came in had beautiful white skin, hair that was dark eggplant purple in colour and she wore a light blue kimono with black bordering. Hinata instantly looked down from the shock, trying to focus her mind to remember that certain someone from her childhood.

"Minato and I just decided that we would name our boy Naruto with the help of Jiraiya-sensei." Kushina said enthusiastically.

"Naruto…that sounds beautiful Kushina." Harumi genuinely complimented. "In fact, I came here today because Hiashi and I decided a name for our upcoming daughter."

"What is it? What is it?" Kushina was almost like a child waiting for her present.

"We decided we would call her Hinata." Harumi confessed. "We want her to be the one to lead the Hyuuga to a bright and sunny future. That is our dream."

"Wow; that is such a lovely way to name your child." Kushina praised. "Talking about Hinata, I want you to meet an amazing guest we have here."

"Come to think of it, isn't it quite a coincidence that Harumi-san's daughter and our guest here are both called Hinata. Plus they are also Hyuuga and have so many physical similarities." Jiraiya laughed. "Maybe they are related."

"You don't think…." Minato looked over from Harumi to Hinata to confirm his suspicions.

"Mother…" That is all Hinata could say before she finally lost her grip on reality and passed out.

About 15 minutes later Hinata started to slowly regain her consciousness, but to her surprise she saw her mother right in front of her eyes stroking her cheek. At that moment Hinata let go of all her restraints and latched on to her mother for dear life.

"Mother, I missed you so much." Hinata cried. "Life without you has been so hard for me. You were the one who loved me the most."

Harumi didn't know what was going on, but her calm and kind demeanour couldn't allow her to see her future daughter in pain. Minato and the rest had explained to her how Hinata and Yuhi had time travelled to the past and the state the future was in.

"It's okay now Hinata; I'm here with you." Harumi replied back with all the kindness in her heart.

"Do you know how much I suffered after you died?" Hinata questioned in vain. "The Hyuuga treated me as a failure. They never believed in me like you did. I lived my entire childhood being treated as some form of outcast to the family, someone they wished never existed."

Harumi was shocked at the revelation. More so at the family's treatment towards Hinata as opposed to her own death. She would never want her child to be treated in such a manner. Even if Hinata didn't turn out to be the Hyuuga genius that everyone expected her to be, it was her duty as a parent to always believe in her daughter no matter what.

"I'm sorry it turned out that way." Harumi apologised sincerely. "I really am. It must have been terrible."

"It's okay; it's not your fault." Hinata was still lost in her daze. "I was saved because of Naruto-kun. He was the one who gave me courage to stand up and face the odds. He gave me a new purpose in life, to never give up and to never back down on my word. Finally, he also gave me the love that was long lost with you mother."

"Wow, this Naruto-kun you speak of must be quite an amazing person." Harumi complimented. "I wish I could meet him personally and show him my gratitude. I guess the least I can do is thank Kushina for giving birth so such a wonderful boy."

"Oh come on Haru-nyan, don't mention it." Kushina said rubbing the back of her head. "Who would have thought our children would get married though. We are best friends after all."

"Wait what did you just call her?" Jiraiya looked at Kushina suspiciously.

"Haru-nyan?" Kushina questioned casually.

"Yeah that; what kind of a name is THAT?" Jiraiya looked at Kushina with an open mouth.

"There was this one time when me and Haru were in the academy. The two of us went out to do some window shopping in the streets of the village. In one shop we came across this very peculiar but cute looking nekomimi. We both tried it on but it looked so incredibly cute on Haru and it was purple coloured as well, so it fit her perfectly. From then on I started calling her Haru-nyan occasionally in memory of the event. If I remember correctly I even bought her the accessory as a present."

"Yeah you did buy me those cat ears." Harumi replied thinking back. "Unfortunately I never had the occasion to wear them inside the Hyuuga household, but I'm sure it's somewhere in my personal storage."

Hinata who was still latched on to her mother's oversized belly was suddenly snapped out of her daze when she felt a relatively strong bump next to her face. She only just realised that her own younger self in the womb did not like the fact that someone else was in contact with her mother. It was quite the experience to know that two versions of her were in the same room at the same time. Hinata could only just stroke her mother's midsection and soak in the comfortable feeling that she must be experiencing inside her mother's uterus.

"Oh, you are definitely energetic in the womb." Harumi replied in response to Hinata's bewilderment.

"Hinata, as I was asking before, how did you and Naruto meet? I want the full story." Kushina demanded to know about the future.

"Me and Naruto-kun used to go to the academy at the same time. That is where I first met him." Hinata started on her account.

"So it was love at first sight?" Kushina asked excitedly.

"Umm, no actually. At first everyone thought Naruto-kun was an annoyance because he constantly played pranks in and out of the classroom. But one day he saved me from a few bullies who were harassing me because I was a Hyuuga, but didn't have the same demeanour and strength as them. Although my guardian told me to stay away from Naruto-kun, I watched him from afar and to my surprise I found out that he was just a lonely kid with no family or friends, vying for attention. I understood him due to my circumstances,, while others didn't. I also saw that he had the determination unlike any other to achieve what he set his mind to. He said he wanted to be hokage, but everyone thought of it as joke. Even then he never doubted himself. Due to my own lack of self-confidence, I always wished to become more like Naruto-kun; to have unwavering faith in myself no matter what the situation."

"Well I was a prankster at heart myself, so I can understand the fun in that. But in Naruto's case it was probably more than just to have some fun." Jiraiya thought out loud.

"Yes, he did all those pranks when he was young just so that people would notice him. Unfortunately he got the wrong kind of attention. That changed though after Naruto-kun joined his genin team, which was different from mine to my dismay. Nonetheless Naruto-kun decided he would use all his power to protect the hidden leaf village even if everyone hated him. That was the point where my admiration for him started to turn into deep rooted feelings, and over time those feelings turned into full-fledged love." Hinata blushed a deep shade of red as she expressed how she felt.

"That is so beautiful; admiration turning into love." Harumi put both of her hands together as she adored the cute feelings of her daughter. "So did you tell him how you felt?"

"Things were a bit complicated; I simply didn't have the courage. I think everyone else knew about my feelings towards Naruto-kun, except him." Hinata sighed. "Plus he left Konoha with Jiraiya-sama for two years to train when he was fourteen."

"That sucks, but then how exactly did Naruto find out. It seems he was oblivious to your feelings." Kushina said angrily.

"Well I did tell him." Hinata thought back to her confession. "It was during a time when the presumed akatsuki leader, Pain had infiltrated the leaf village in search of Naruto-kun; to extract the nine-tailed fox."

Kushina gasped in horror knowing the fate of the jinchuuriki from whom the tailed beast was extracted. Minato's face also showed concern.

"Pain had Naruto-kun pinned down. During that time I intervened realizing I couldn't just stand by and watch. Honestly, I thought I was going to die, but at the very least I hoped I could set Naruto-kun free." Hinata had a very serene smile as she remembered how she felt. Knowing death was just around the corner was no easy task for any human being. "So I thought I might as well tell him how I felt, since I didn't want to take any regrets to my death."

"Wow…." Kushina couldn't formulate a complete sentence in awe of Hinata's dedication.

"Unfortunately I didn't really do much in terms of saving him. I just got stabbed, and seeing me Naruto-kun went berserk with the power of the Kyuubi. In the end he was the one who really saved me." Hinata couldn't help but smile sadly.

"That's not true Hinata. I'm sure he felt very strongly to surrender to the power of the Kyuubi. In fact that is a bit worrying considering he used the Kyuubi's power." Kushina held Hinata's hands with a concerned look on her face.

"It's okay. Naruto-kun was able to control the power of the Kyuubi. In fact they are best of friends now. Or at least that is what he tells me."

"That's amazing; I can't say I have the same kind of relationship with the furball." Kushina looked down towards her seal in disdain.

"It took him a while, but he said that the two of you helped him tap into the full power of the Kyuubi. I still don't know how though." Hinata looked from Kushina to Minato.

Minato and Kushina looked at each other slightly confused.

"So did he reply to your confession after the battle?" Kushina brought back the inquiry.

"He did, only it took him about 8 years." Hinata scratched her head feeling a bit silly.

"8 YEARS? WHAT?" Kushina was flabbergasted.

"Naruto-kun wanted to wait until he became hokage before answering back to me. On hindsight, I would say he was being mature. In fact he didn't beat around the bush, when he did reply he asked my hand in marriage directly to my father."

"Oh that's bold, asking Hiashi Hyuuga." Kushina smiled.

"Not to offend, but to me Hyuuga-san seems liked the kind of person who is hard to approach. I can only imagine that to be even more so when it concerns asking his daughter for marriage." Minato wasn't exactly in the best of terms of Hiashi as Kushina was with Harumi.

"No offense taken. I know he can be a bit cold, but he is very caring when it comes to his family." Harumi knew her husband all too well. "I still wonder how he responded to the proposal."

"I remember that day all too well. The whole Hyuuga compound was in an outrage." Hinata reminisced about that unforgettable day.

"This is one story I would like to hear." Both Kushina and Harumi stated their feelings simultaneously.

"Father had called me in to show me prospective grooms who the Hyuuga had chosen for me. Of course I had no will to get married to someone other than Naruto-kun, but at that time I had given up on any hope on the two of us having a future together. He had also just become hokage and I heard that renowned kunoichi from all across the world were sending him marriage proposals. The situation seemed utterly hopeless. I thought he had probably even forgotten about my existence."

"Then what? I bet Naruto did something crazy." Kushina was at the edge of her seat.

"I wouldn't be surprised. He is your son after all." Even though Jiraiya had never seen Naruto, he felt he knew him just from hearing Hinata describe him.

"Yes it was quite the spectacle he made." Hinata chuckled. "Without any notice Naruto-kun barged into the room and shouted, "I want your daughter for life old man.""

"Oh my!" That was all Kushina could say in her excitement.

"How bold!" Harumi cupped her mouth with her two hands.

"I lost consciousness at that point. Once I came to, I saw the two of them sitting silently opposite to each other. Naruto-kun was smiling at me and father told me that our marriage had been fixed to a week from that day. Hearing that, I fainted once again. The rest, I'm sure you can extrapolate." Hinata finished as she gently stroked Yuhi's long hair, which was a genetic trait she had inherited from her mother.

Everyone started to laugh wholeheartedly at the turn of events that conspired. Hinata herself thought about how she almost had a heart attack TWICE in one day. She wasn't cut out for those shocking turn of events. But having lived with Naruto, she had gotten used to such outcomes. He was the most unpredictable ninja of the hidden leaf village for no reason.

"I still have to wonder what Naruto said to Hiashi." Harumi said. "He isn't one to be easily persuaded."

"I actually don't know what transpired between them, but ever since then father has been awfully close to Naruto-kun. I actually haven't seen father being so open and happy in his own way with anyone." Hinata found the relationship between Hiashi and Naruto very peculiar.

"So Hinata, are you a Jounin now?" Harumi couldn't help but to want to know more about her daughter.

"I was, until I took over father's position as Hyuuga head." Hinata answered modestly.

"You are the Hyuuga clan leader now?" Harumi was ecstatic.

"Oh yes, guess I didn't mention. I did become the clan leader recently. But I wouldn't have managed if not for Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled.

"That's amazing, to think the Hyuuga clan leader and the future hokage are a family. This is a day of celebration." Kushina rejoiced holding her best friend's hand.

"I have to agree. It's really nice to be able to see my son's family." Minato had been quietly listening to the conversation. "It is nothing short of a dream to know that my son would go on to become hokage."

Yuhi had been looking at Minato for quite a while. Something about this man seemed rather odd to her. Minato noticed Yuhi's reaction and walked next to her. He then kneeled down on the ground beside her.

"Yuhi, I'm so glad to be able to meet you. Do you know who I am?" Minato questioned in a somewhat childish tone but taking care not to invade Yuhi's territory too much.

"Umm, no. I'm sorry." Yuhi was a bit hesitant.

"That's okay, you don't have to apologise. I'm your daddy's daddy." Minato explained.

"Wow really?" Yuhi started to find the prospect rather interesting.

"Yeah. So I guess that makes me your grandfather. I'm sorry though that we haven't been able to meet before." Minato apologised wholeheartedly.

"Does that mean I have two grandpas?" Yuhi gave her mother a questioning gaze, who nodded back at her.

With her mother's final gesture, all of Yuhi's inhibitions were removed. If she knew anything about grandfathers, then it was that they loved you to death, told you stories unheard of from any other sources and fulfilled all of your requests. Hiashi had set a very high standard for all grandfathers to come. As they interacted, Yuhi found Minato to be very unique, but at the same time rather nostalgic. He looked very much like her father, but his personality was that of her mother. Kushina on the other hand acted very much like her father, but had physical traits similar to her mother.

Time flew by as Yuhi got to know more about her grandparents and his father's teacher. The conversation went on for hours as the topics flowed on endlessly. Soon everyone realised that hours had passed on since Hinata and Yuhi had travelled back in time.

"I think we really ought to make our way back. Naruto-kun is probably worried. But I don't really know how we can go back, except for the fact that it has something to do with this Kunai." Hinata brought up the kunai she was carrying.

"I think I might have a clue. May I take a look at it?" Minato requested.

"Sure." Hinata handed over the kunai to Minato as he investigated the item in question carefully.

Minato brought out an identical copy of the kunai from his pouch. "This is most certainly mine."

"Looks like it. Maybe it has something to do with the warping of space-time it can do." Jiraiya speculated.

"Yes. I do believe that if we were to reverse the events that happened at the moment they time-travelled, they should be able to get back." Minato explained. "Or so it is worth a try. Do you know what exactly happened?"

"The last thing I remember is Yuhi-chan carrying the kunai when we were sent back to the past, but nothing happened when I held it." Hinata still didn't understand the cause of it.

"I think that may just be it." Minato stood up as he handed the kunai back to Hinata. "All you have to do is make Yuhi hold the kunai once again to get back to your time."

"Thank you Minato-sama." Hinata gave a kind gesture to her father-in-law. "And thank you everyone; it was truly a wonderful experience to meet you all. I guess it is time we took our leave."

At those words, both Kushina and Harumi held Hinata in a gigantic embrace.

"Hinata, take care of yourself and your family. Also lead the Hyuuga in the righteous direction. I may not be there in the future, but I'll always trust and love you. Remember that." Harumi said to her daughter.

"Me too Hinata. I am so glad that my son found such a wonderful person as his life partner. You are the perfect complement to him since he has the same personality as me." Kushina said kindly. "I leave my future son in your capable hands."

"Thank you so much. I will do my best." Hinata gave a reassuring nod.

"Oh and before you go, I have something I want to give you Yuhi-chan." Kushina walked over to her table and picked up an orange coloured scarf with two red spirals at both ends. "I know this may be a bit silly looking since it's the first time I have ever sewed a scarf, but I definitely put a lot of love into it. I was making it for our yet to be born baby, but I hope you will accept it Yuhi-chan."

Kushina wrapped the scarf around Yuhi's neck. The scarf was a source of incredible comfort, and one could feel the love that was imbued into it when it was made.

"This is so warm. I love it grandma. Thank you." Yuhi gave Kushina a big whole-hearted hug.

"Don't mention it Yuhi-chan." Kushina embraced her back. "Be sure to take care of your mom and dad for me okay."

"I will."

"And be a good girl always." Kushina rubbed Yuhi's head one last time. "I'll miss you a lot.

"Tell Naruto we sent him our love and regards." Minato made a final comment. "You should get going now."

"Alright then Yuhi-chan, I want you to hold this Kunai on one hand." Hinata gave Yuhi the kunai on one hand while she held her other hand.

As soon as Yuhi held the kunai, a bright light started to emanate from her and Hinata. Both of them waved goodbye at the rest who also waved back at them. Within a few seconds they were absorbed completely by the bright light which blinded them completely. Once they opened their eyes, they both found themselves back at the exact room they had started their journey from. The date was the same as earlier, only a few hours had elapsed. Hinata quickly took the kunai from Yuhi and put it away into safety.

"It looks like we are back." Hinata sighed in relief, but something quickly caught her attention.

"Hinata!"

"Yuhi!"

All she could hear were both of their names shouted countless times every second from outside of the house. Hinata didn't know what was going on, but went over to the window to take a look. What she saw startled her completely. Almost an infinite number of Naruto clones as far as the eyes could see were rushing around the village like mad men shouting her and Yuhi's names. Gigantic toads sat in various parts of the village and almost every single person in the village was out in the streets. It was utter chaos.

"Naruto-kun, we are over here." Hinata shouted and waved at the nearest Naruto clone running in the street.

In the next instant both Hinata and Yuhi were tackled to the ground by a Naruto that flew in through the window in a flash.

"WHERE WERE YOU TWO?" Naruto screamed in their ears. "Are you hurt? Did you get kidnapped? Who was it?"

"It's okay Naruto-kun, we are fine. We weren't kidnapped or anything bad like that." Hinata tried to calm Naruto who held on to them for dear life.

"IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE?" Naruto was fully in tears now. "I was so worried. I thought I had lost everything once again. I felt I was going to die from despair."

"I'm sorry daddy. It's okay now." Yuhi felt her father's worry and also tried to calm him down.

Hearing his daughter, Naruto finally regained his composure a bit. He loosened his embrace and looked at the two to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"So you are both okay? Are you sure nothing bad happened?" Naruto was still restless. His family meant the world to him. Hinata and Yuhi was all that he had. Maybe as a child he never had anything to begin with, so knowing his parents were dead was something he had come to accept as he never got the parental love to begin with. But now that he had a family, losing it would be unbearable.

"Yes we are both just fine." Hinata reassured Naruto. "But Naruto-kun, the whole village looks to be in turmoil. As hokage you need to restore order."

Naruto realised what Hinata was saying. Finally having been convinced that his wife and daughter were safe, he walked over to the window and screamed, "END THE SEARCH, THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND SAFELY!"

The loud noise of thousands of clones popping out of existence and the entire village erupting in cheers were all the Konoha 12 could hear as the memory faded out of existence.

* * *

So there you have it. I know from reading your reviews from the last chapter that the whole time travel concept has been perceived in different ways by readers. For now I would love to know more of your reactions on the matter, so if you would kindly leave a review on what you thought, then that would be greatly appreciated as always. I'll do my best to explain the effect of the time travel and hopefully clear up any confusion in the next chapter.

Until then, stay frosty, literally because it is so friggin hot right now. Summer is scorching hot!


	9. Consequences of time travel

**Consequences of time travel**

In the words of the wise **89niners-best-team-ever**: We have a time paradox!

So put your thinking caps on and lets get into the explanation.

* * *

"Whoa whoa whoa, back it up a second! Did I just witness another time travel taking place?" Kiba's mouth was wide open after the revelation he received.

"I think we did." Chouji could only acknowledge Kiba's statement, but not explain what was going on.

"This is absolutely crazy. Hinata told Naruto's parents about their death. Information like that can change the course of history itself." Sakura thought out loud. "But something just didn't make sense to me. In the end it looked like when Hinata and Yuhi returned to the future, nothing had changed. Everything seemed to be just as it was when they left the future."

"You picked up on that as well?" Ino met Sakura's confused gaze. "I don't get why nothing changed. Surely Naruto's parents would try to avert their death once they knew about it. But then why didn't the future change whatsoever?"

"Use your brains for a second." Sasuke cut in somewhat frustrated. "If their future were to change because of the time travel to the past, then what would happen if Naruto's little daughter here were to kill him right now?"

"What would happen?" Sakura looked even more confused. "I don't know."

"If she killed her own father before she is born, then wouldn't she herself cease to exist?" Sasuke asked inquisitively.

At Sasuke's question, most of the party turned their heads towards each other in both surprise and confusion. The matter still needed to be explained in more detail.

"All of you look like dears caught in headlights." Sai said with his signature smile. "What Sasuke-kun states is known as the grandfather paradox."

"Grandfather what?" Kiba had most definitely not heard of such terminology ever before.

"A while back I read a few books on the whole concept of time travel. Of course at the time I only did so because I thought of it as an interesting read, but never did I imagine I would be able to witness it first-hand. Sai's smile was replaced by a neutral expression, indicating he was serious. "So allow me to explain."

"The concept and consequences of time travel can be explained through three main hypotheses." Sai stated formally. "The idea Sakura and Ino mentioned is covered by the non-existence theorem."

"According to this theory, the future changes dynamically depending on what a time traveller does in the past. So as you mentioned, since Hinata-san told Naruto's parents about their imminent death, they should have been able to prepare for it and also prevent it. Hence, once Hinata-san and Yuhi-chan returned, Naruto's parents should have still been alive and the future should have changed accordingly. Is that what you were thinking?" Sai questioned looking over from Sakura to Ino.

"Yeah, that's what I was expecting." Ino nodded.

"Yes, but this consideration gives rise to a problem as Sasuke-kun stated. The problem at hand is known as the grandfather paradox." Sai cleared his throat. "Think about this: Say a time traveller went back in time before he was born and before his grandparents ever met. Then he proceeded to kill his own grandfather. This would mean that his grandparents would never meet, his own parent would never be born, and finally he himself would never be born. That would mean that the time-traveller himself should not exist because the future has changed dynamically to one where he can not exist. But of course we know that the time traveller does exist, because if he didn't then he wouldn't have been able to kill his grandfather in the first place. Do you see where I'm coming from?"

"Ahhh, I see now. It makes sense." Ino finally had a realisation, as did many around her. "So that is why Sasuke-kun asked what would happen if Yuhi-chan killed Naruto at this moment. If the future Yuhi-chan is from was to change due to her killing Naruto, then technically she shouldn't even be here in the first place because the one who gave birth to her died before giving birth. That's a problem."

"Exactly." Sasuke looked away after his word of affirmation.

"Then how do you explain the time travel?" Tenten wanted to know the full explanation.

"There are two other possibilities. The second is known as the self-consistency principle." Sai jogged his memory to make sure what he was going to say made sense to the others. "Basically, this principle states that if a time traveller goes back to the past, anything he does is considered to always have been part of history. This would mean that there can be no paradoxes, but there is a more fundamental problem with this assertion."

"What's that?" Sakura could not help but ask.

"Consider this now: Say there was a disaster, for example a time-traveller's father was killed after he was born. The time traveller decides to go back in time to rescue his father before he was killed. Say he does indeed succeed in catching the perpetrator and stops his father from getting killed. According to the self-consistency principle, the time traveller's father not dying has become part of history. But this would mean that the time traveller's motivation to save his father was unfounded, because his father never died in the first place. So his entire motivation to time travel itself is lost. But as we know, the time traveller's father did die in the past according to him, and he did indeed have a motive to save his father. So the self-consistency principle does not hold."

"I would also like to add on something to that." Shikamaru requested once Sai had finished explaining. "If you remember future Hinata's explanation, she said that future Naruto proposed to her in front of her father. According to the principle Sai stated, the present Naruto would also have propose in front of Hinata's father. But we know that he didn't do that, he proposed to her earlier inside the mind of his seven year old daughter. So now we have two conflicting events that have occurred which give rise to different outcomes, an idea that is rejected by the above hypothesis."

"Thank you Shikamaru-san, you are insightful as always." Sai smiled at Shikamaru. "Due to the very nature of reality, and time travel changing reality by its very definition, in this case the self-consistency principle in essence ends up saying that time travel is not possible. But as we saw, time travel did indeed happen and Yuhi-chan over here has also managed to travel to the past somehow."

"Wow, this is kind of getting complicated." Chouji was still trying to put the pieces of information together. "But then how can you explain all this time travel stuff?"

"I will get to that right now." Sai smiled once again. "The final way you can explain the concept of time travel is by the parallel universes interpretation. Simply put, just by time-travelling you give rise to alternate realities. In our case, we now have three different realities that exist simultaneously. The first reality is the one where we are right now, where Naruto and Hinata have met their future daughter before they even got married, which ended up making Naruto propose to Hinata. The second reality is where Naruto and Hinata never met their daughter before they got married, but Naruto still proposed to Hinata for different reasons altogether. The third reality is the one where Naruto's parents know about their death, and very likely have averted their death due to the information they were given by future Hinata. This would mean that in that reality Naruto was born without his parents dying and lives happily with his family. All three of these realities exist parallel to each other and we currently only know how the first one is developing, because we reside in it. If we could take a look at the other two realities, we would see a world that is perhaps very different from the world we live in right now."

"Very well explained Sai." Shikamaru patted Sai on his shoulder. "That is the logical outcome I reached myself."

"Thank you, it just made sense to me that the three timelines had to exist mutually exclusively." Sai added, looking over to the others. "Really that is the only fact you need to remember from everything that I explained."

"Wow, my mind is simply blown." Sakura looked flabbergasted at all the information that was portrayed to her. "But at least it makes sense, and we know the effect of the time travel."

"Same here." Ino chimed in.

"All that explanation is great and all, but did anyone else pick up on the fact that Naruto's father is the fourth hokage?" Neji couldn't allow this information to slide.

"YOU ARE RIGHT! The fourth hokage IS Naruto's father." Tenten was surprised. "Did you know this Naruto?"

"Yeah, I did find out when I was younger." Naruto scratched his head with a wry smile.

"Why the heck didn't you mention it ever?" Sakura asked angrily.

"Well they were both dead so I didn't see the point, and I didn't want to be treated any differently for being the son of the hokage." Naruto replied.

"Still its mind boggling to think Naruto is the son of the legendary fourth hokage. Maybe we should have chased after him when we were younger rather than Sasuke." Ino joked.

Sasuke gave Naruto a sideways glance. _"So you were royalty after all."_ He thought.

"Also from what she said, it seems as though Naruto's mother was the previous host of the nine-tailed fox." Shikamaru added.

"Yes I remember her statement." Lee agreed.

"Indeed she was the previous jinchuuriki. It was at the night when I was born when Kurama was released, as my mother explained. My father was the one who resealed the fox into me to make sure I could someday use its power for good. In the process he sacrificed his own life and died with my mother." Naruto explained sadly.

"I-I'm sorry N-Naruto-kun." Hinata spoke as she saw Naruto's sorrow. "Y-Your parents w-were really great people."

"There's no need for you to be sorry Hinata." Naruto returned back to his cheerful self. "I have no reason to be sad. I'm proud of my parents and I hope to carry on their legacy."

"I-I'm sure you will." Hinata felt her spirit uplifted once again by Naruto's enthusiasm.

"Anyway, I think we have a clue as to how this time travel takes place." Naruto looked at the others around him. "And it has to do with the kunai Yuhi-chan was holding."

"You are right Naruto. Maybe if we keep exploring we will be able to find more details on Yuhi's particular case of time travel and the reasons behind it, as well as more information on the future Yuhi came from. This information is simply invaluable because our future will be very different than the one Yuhi is from." Shikamaru said.

"Indeed, I will get to searching." Ino once again started to sort through the many screens of memories in front of her.

* * *

Just so you know, all of this is purely science fiction and it has very little, if anything to do with actual science. Believe me, I study Physics at university. The whole concept of time travel is mainly rooted in fiction, not reality and I very much doubt anything such as that is possible. But who knows. Nonetheless, the outcome of the alternate realities I chose was really due to the fact that it suited the story better. Since I'm writing fiction, why not go all out?

Also I know this chapter is extremely short. At first I wanted to add this on to the next chapter but then I realised that this chapter is one of the most important chapters in this whole fic, if not THE most important. So I wanted to keep it short and separate on its own. I also tried my best in trying to explain the theories as simply as I could, so I hope I was able to communicate the message. I also hope you found some of it interesting. Since this chapter is so short, I think I will answer some of your questions/reviews because I really enjoy doing so and I haven't done so in a while. Alright lets go:

**89niners-best-team-ever:**Since I liked your question, I begun this chapter with your statement. I hope you are starting to see the whole point of the time travel now. I could have written a fic that deals with just one timeline, but that wouldn't make this story what it is. The whole point of having the time travel is to have different realities and being able to intertwine them together wherever possible. It just gives me more creative opportunities as a writer. In this last segment, a new reality just arose. I haven't focused on what happens in that future where Minato and Kushina survive, but who knows maybe someday I will.

**BigBootyBaby:**My hats are off for you good sir/madam (don't know which lol). But you my friend are perhaps the most observant reader I have come across. You actually picked up the fact that the scarf Yuhi is wearing in the current timeline is actually the same scarf she got from Kushina, thus linking the two timelines together. I believe I mentioned the scarf in the first chapter and its quite amazing you actually remembered and matched it up with the one mentioned in the previous chapter. It makes me very happy to know that there are readers who read your stories so carefully. Thank you once again

**hinatagirl0805, evil-x-love** and** Dragoon Galaxy: **Wow, I don't think I have the skills as a writer to actually make someone cry. But thank you nonetheless for the very kind comments. I'm happy if I could make you feel even a little emotion.

**ALostBlueIdiot: **Yay, someone else actually watched Kaze no Stigma. I'm so happy.

**AoiTori18:**Tell me about it. I remember when I first came up with the idea of writing this story. Never did I think that this story would get so many views and followers and I would write so many chapters.

**ZyiareHellsing: **Dude, you changed your avatar from the Gengar looking thing to Pedobear. Great (in a bad way)!

** firmanherawan35: **Oh wow, I don't know what to say. I'm truly humbled by your beautiful remark. Thank you :)

And to the many others who have written such beautiful and honest reviews, I THANK YOU ALL. For now I hope I was able to dispel some of your confusion. I know this chapter is small, but I've written part of the next chapter already, so it should be up hopefully soon. Until then, let me know what you think and bye bye :)


	10. The Melancholy Of Sasuke Uchiha

**The Melancholy Of Sasuke Uchiha**

Hello and welcome back. I wonder how many of you got the title reference; I imagine at least there will be a few if not a lot. Anyway, as you can imagine from the title, it's time for that Sasuke chapter that I promised a few chapters back. So sit back, relax and enjoy. I'll see you at the end :)

* * *

"Indeed, I will get to searching." Ino once again started to sort through the many screens of memories in front of her.

"I wonder if there'll be any memories of us in the future." Sakura questioned. "So far we have only really seen mostly Naruto and Hinata, which is understandable, but I want to know about the rest of us as well."

"Well what do you know; I've just found what you've been looking for." Ino answered Sakura's query.

"What really?" Sakura asked for confirmation.

"Yup. This one seems to have every one of us together." Ino confirmed.

"Roll it then. What are you waiting for?" Sakura yelled at Ino.

"Okay okay, calm down. Here goes."

Once again the scenery shifted and the memory commenced.

It was exactly 8'o clock in the evening. The summer night was imbued with tranquillity and a peaceful draft passed through the door that was left ajar. This was also the only room that was a source of light among the otherwise endless seeming collection of doors in the huge compound. The quietness of the night spread through the entire Uchiha compound; perhaps it was a little too quiet. The only soul present was that of a lone Uchiha. Indeed, Sasuke Uchiha stood next to a gigantic window overlooking the woods at the back of the compound. It was yet another melancholic night for the Uchiha survivor, one who was now in his early thirties, as he wondered exactly how and why he survived that night in the first place. This seemingly older Sasuke was taller and physically well-built, but his apathetic expression remained unchanged. The emotional scar that he carried since childhood haunted him every day, and tonight was no different.

Sasuke's train of thought, or lack thereof was abruptly broken by the loud sound of the doorbell. A visitor at this hour, who could it be? Sasuke rarely ever got any visitors at all, let alone one this late at night. He walked gracefully towards the entrance wondering who the visitor was. Very few people wanted anything to do with the ex-traitor. In fact, if not for Naruto, Sasuke could have never entered the village again.

Within a few seconds, he was in front of the sliding door. As he opened the door, what Sasuke saw completely threw him off guard. The person standing in front of him was none other than Naruto's 5 year old daughter. Sasuke was lost for words seeing the little girl by herself on his door. What could she possibly want from him?

"Umm, daddy told me to give you this." Yuhi handed Sasuke an envelope, which he opened to find a letter inside.

Dear Sasuke,

I know this is short notice but I want you to take care of my daughter for a day. I also know what you are thinking right now, but believe me, I had no other options. Hinata-chan and most of the other Hyuuga are out of the village for some clan matters. I am going for an emergency meeting with the Tsuchikage for a day, and most of the others I know are out on missions. You are the only one that is still in konoha who I can count on.

Since I consider you a brother, think of her like your own daughter and take care of her for a day. I will be back by tomorrow.

Yours truly,

Naruto Uzumaki.

P.S. If you refuse to take care of her, I'll make sure you are assigned to babysitting missions for the rest of the year. Toodles.

Sasuke could not believe what he was reading and stood at his doorway for a minute holding the letter in his hand. The letter asks him, no, demands him to take care of this child. Sasuke was not fond of children to say the least. He always thought of them as being annoying and a pain to take care of. All they did was continuously cause trouble and only demand more. They seemed so ungrateful. Since his own family was wiped out without a trace, he had to fend for himself as a child. It was a cruel world out there and children had it too easy in his opinion, being protected by their parents all the time. Sasuke could sympathise less with them.

In this case though, Sasuke had no choice, because he knew that Naruto was serious enough to assign him babysitting missions if he refused. He was just crazy like that sometimes. But in all honesty he wouldn't refuse a request made by his closest friend who had sacrificed so much to get him back to the right path. So he bit his tongue and decided he would endure this suffering for the next 24 hours or so.

"Ummm, daddy said you were going to take care of me for a day. Can I come in?" Yuhi questioned breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts.

"Fine, you can come in." Sasuke sighed and moved out of the doorway to let the girl in.

Yuhi who was naturally very energetic like her father was acting rather composed, as she made sure to take her shoes off at the doorway and place them neatly on the shoe-rack. She stood there at the entranceway waiting for Sasuke to lead her in, not wanting to invade his territory unwelcomed. There hadn't been many times when Sasuke himself had come in contact with Yuhi. He had met her just a few times when Naruto brought her over to the Hokage's office and whatnot, but they had very little contact with each other. He imagined Naruto's daughter would take after him. To his surprise, Yuhi was acting quite the opposite of what he expected. It kind of reminded him of the shy Hyuuga who was the girl's mother. So it finally dawned on Sasuke that this girl was not just a carbon copy of her father, but rather was taught much delicacy and mannerisms, which were aspects the Hyuuga were masters of. Maybe things weren't going to be so hectic after all.

"Follow me." Sasuke ordered as he started to walk through the hallway with Yuhi on his trail. He had the entire Uchiha clan house to himself. To say the place was huge would be an understatement. The Uchiha clan had an entire segment of the village for themselves. The sheer size of the place would give tough competition to the Hyuuga clan, who prided themselves in having one of the best living complexes in Konoha. Sasuke had such a complex just to himself, but it wasn't something that was of much interest to him. An alarming number of rooms remained empty as Sasuke only used a few of the facilities that were available. At times the house seemed almost haunted, and Sasuke would sometimes still feel the hallways being permeated by the screams of the Uchiha who were slaughtered at that dreadful night.

Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke noticed that Yuhi was somewhat petrified by the eerie feel of the Uchiha compound at night. Watching her kind of reminded him a bit about how he felt at that night as a child, having witnessed such atrocities. Even though it was unlike him, Sasuke decided to strike up a conversation as they walked to their destination.

"So I imagine you have not been around here before." Sasuke answered his own question.

"No I haven't, since this part of Konoha belongs to the Uchiha clan and entry into other clan premises without permission is strictly prohibited." Yuhi answered almost too smartly for a five year old.

Sasuke was taken aback slightly. "So you know of the Uchiha clan?" He honestly did not think a five year old girl would know about the Uchiha, especially given that he was the only one left.

"Yes, mommy taught me about all the major clans. She told me that although the Hyuuga are the strongest clan in konoha now, the Uchiha were once the strongest in the village." Yuhi elaborated. "Also that the Uchiha possess one of the three great eye techniques, the sharingan."

This child definitely knew a lot more than one would expect. But then again she was the child of the hokage and the Hyuuga clan leader, so it wasn't unexpected. With those thoughts Sasuke and Yuhi finally arrived at the guest room. It was a very large room, but was almost empty. It only had a kotatsu in the centre and almost nothing else. Sasuke proceeded to open the windows to allow the wind to cool down the room and gestured Yuhi to take a seat. In response Yuhi took a seat and stretched her feet under the kotatsu. Sasuke followed suit and took a seat himself. Seconds turned into minutes as both of them sat there looking down at the table in front of them. There was a very awkward silence that pervaded through the room. Finally having a look at the clock on the wall, Sasuke decided it was time for him to prepare dinner, especially since there was a guest with him now.

"I'll be going to the kitchen to prepare dinner." Sasuke stated bluntly. "I'm going to prepare miso soup and baked aji (Japanese Mackerel) with rice. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, I like miso a lot."

"Okay then, I'll let you know when it's done. If you need anything, then let me know." With his final words Sasuke got up and left for the kitchen which was just next door to the guest room.

Among the many things that he disliked, cooking was not one of them. In fact, if there was anything that Sasuke liked to do in his free time, it was to cook. Over the years he had tried a lot of cuisines as he travelled around the nations and had built up quite a repertoire of dishes he could cook. But this was the first time in a very long time that he was cooking for someone else besides him, so the experience was somewhat different. He opened up the refrigerator to bring out two medium sized Mackerels and rested them in a pan of lukewarm water to allow them to defrost quickly. While the fish rested, Sasuke pulled out a big glass beaker to prepare some marinade. He poured a full cup of vinegar to give the dish some acidity, a little lemon juice to add to the acidity, two cups of olive oil and an assortment of spices to bring flavour to the dish. Once the ingredients had been mixed together thoroughly, Sasuke put the fish in a baking dish and poured the marinade on top. He then left the fish to marinate for a while before proceeding on with the baking process.

As Sasuke was going to start preparing the Miso soup, he noticed someone was peeking through the door to the kitchen.

"What's the matter? Is there anything you need?" Sasuke asked looking over his back.

"A-ano, I was wondering if you needed any help." Yuhi asked hesitantly.

Once again, Sasuke was taken aback by what this girl was saying, and for the first time that night there was a smirk on his face. Something about her was certainly intriguing.

"Do you really think you can help little girl?" Sasuke questioned with a cold tone.

"I-I do help mommy s-sometimes when she cooks." Yuhi definitely found Sasuke unnerving, which caused her to stutter in her speech.

"I see." Sasuke thought of what his response would be. "Well then, I suppose I'll take you up on your offer."

"R-really?"

"Yes. I suppose you know how to prepare rice?" Sasuke asked. He picked something very simple so as not to overwhelm her, neither make her feel useless.

"YES. Mommy taught me how to, so I can do that." Yuhi was finally starting to get back to her normal self.

"Alright, I'll leave you to wash the rice for me then." Sasuke took the rice cooker and poured several cups of rice into it. He then picked Yuhi up and put her on the countertop right next to the faucet.

"Thank you. I'll do my best." Yuhi was pumped up.

Sasuke had met many people in his lifetime. Most of the people he spent his time with had some of the most perverted motivations one could think of. But this was the first time he had seen an individual this excited in being able to wash rice, a task most people would find extremely redundant. He watched the girl from the corner of his eyes as she poured water into the bowl and used all her strength to rinse out the impurities from the rice. Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the dedication to such a trivial task. He himself started to mix the ingredients to make miso soup.

"Ano, if you don't mind me asking, do you live alone?" Yuhi asked as her curiosity got the best of her.

Sasuke wasn't surprised since this was a question he was anticipating. "Indeed I live alone."

"What about your family?" Yuhi asked immediately.

"They are all dead." Sasuke answered without emotion.

"Dead?" Yuhi looked a bit confounded.

Sasuke realised that Yuhi probably still didn't understand the concept of death. "I suppose you could say that they have gone somewhere far away and won't be coming back."

"That's cruel. How could they leave you behind like this? Mommy and daddy would never do that."

"So it would seem, but I wouldn't call them all bad. Deep down when I think about it, I feel that they did love me." Sasuke confessed. "And I hope for your sake that your parents never leave your side. I'm sure they'll do their best for you, if I know them as I do."

For the first time in many years, Sasuke showed a sincere smile to Yuhi. It was the smile of a man who had suffered the loss of his family helplessly in front of his eyes. Something about Yuhi just made him want to wish especially that she wouldn't suffer the same fate as him.

Yuhi was somewhat stunned seeing such a smile on this man's face, one who always appeared as though he had lost all emotion or care of the world. As she finished washing the rice, Sasuke filled the container with water and turned on the rice cooker. Yuhi watched closely as Sasuke prepared the miso soup, his techniques quite different from what she was used to seeing from her mother. Once the broth was prepared and the ingredients for the soup mixed in, Sasuke left the pot to simmer for a while during which time he put the marinated fish into the oven to bake it. They also had some light conversation since the ice between them had finally broken, while they waited for the fish to bake.

Once the final processes were set into motion, Sasuke and Yuhi worked together to set up the tableware in the guest room. A very delicious aroma wafted through the guest room as all the food was set on the table. The two sat down opposite to each other and made a prayer before digging in to eat.

"Itadakimasu!" Yuhi yelled out with her chopsticks at hand, but she struggled to pick up the rice with her chopsticks, or break the fish properly for that matter. She could only drink the miso soup with her scoop, but everything else was beyond her. It took Sasuke a minute to realise that as a child, she probably still hadn't fully developed the fine motor skills or hand-eye co-ordination to use that eating utensil. Needless to say, he knew very little about children's development. Either way, he couldn't just leave her be.

"What's the matter? Do you not know how to use chopsticks?" Sasuke questioned, this time showing some concern.

"Sorry. I'm still learning, but I have some trouble. Maybe if I keep trying…." It seemed obvious Yuhi didn't want to show her weakness. At this instance, Yuhi seemed like a mirror image of her father, how she kept trying against the odds to achieve what she set her mind to.

"How do you eat at home?" Sasuke wondered and asked.

"Normally it's mommy or daddy who feed me, or they make it into something that I can eat easily myself." Yuhi still kept on trying to pick up some rice, but all the individual rice grains crumbled and fell apart as soon as she attempted to raise them from the bowl.

Sasuke knew where this was going since he couldn't just leave a little girl in jeopardy like this. It seemed like he understood now how Shikamaru felt when he repeatedly called things "troublesome" about his own family. Giving up on his train of thought, Sasuke shifted himself and his food so that now he was sitting beside Yuhi.

"I guess I'll break the fish into pieces so you can eat them yourself, and I'll help you with the rice." Sasuke stated as he started to process the baked fish.

"I-Is it really okay? Don't you want to eat yourself?" Yuhi was a bit surprised at Sasuke lending a helping hand. He had never seemed to her like the most helpful of people, neither was he very easy to approach. This was certainly unexpected which changed her perception of the lone Uchiha.

"What choice do we have?" Sasuke replied back with a question, but not in a mean sense. "Either way it's not that big of a deal for me. I can just eat mine while doing this."

With the incredible hand eye co-ordination of a ninja, Sasuke could easily use two chopsticks at once without any troubles at all. He was simply ambidextrous. So he used the chopsticks on his right hand to feed Yuhi the rice while he used his left hand to eat his own food.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" Yuhi exclaimed loudly as soon as she was done taking the first bite of the fish. The spices used were radically different from what she was used to. The entire dinner course was imbued with flavours she had never tasted before.

"I-is that so?" Sasuke did not know what to make out of her compliment. He liked to cook different dishes and try new ingredients out, but he only ever did so not because he liked eating food a lot but rather because he thought of cooking akin to chemistry. He wondered how he must have been affected by Orochimaru's interest in experimenting with things, albeit not in the sinister way his master did. Nonetheless, it felt completely different to be able to share the food you made, and be praised as well. It actually felt quite pleasant.

"Yes this is very tasty. Mommy's cooking is great, but I love this too." Yuhi could only sing praise of what was presented to her.

"I see. Thank you." Sasuke had been thanked by many during his time, but there was always some kind of purpose behind why people associated with him. Most of them wanted something out of him. This time though, he could feel that this girl was sincerely telling him how she truly felt, and that made him feel for the first time that the effort he put into making the food was truly worth it.

As the two continued to eat, they talked more about themselves, although it was mostly just Yuhi talking about her parents and family life. Normally he would have found such a conversation annoying in other occasions, but Sasuke actually enjoyed listening to Yuhi's innocent account of her daily life. These stories, unlike the ones he mostly heard or was involved in had no worries or impurities in them, which in turn made Sasuke start to loosen upon the melancholy that plagued his mind. How he wondered such an aloof life was quite fascinating.

This was the point where the realisation finally dawned on Sasuke why children were so special indeed. He finally understood, even if just a little bit, why parents longed to return to their children after a hard day's work, or after a long mission. This was because through their children the parents themselves could forget about the harshness of reality and once again live in a world where there were no complicacies or negativity. A child was innocent and sinless, something that could not be said for any adult. They said that a good company enlivened one's own good characteristics. In that sense, a child was probably one of the best companies a person could have. Sasuke smiled inwardly as he watched the little girl in front of him enjoying her meal and a new sense of compassion started to form in his heart. What he felt next was a feeling he thought had completely been banished for the entirety of his life after that night, but for the first time in decades, Sasuke wished he had a family for himself. He shook his own head in disbelief as he reflected upon what he was wishing for, which stunned him for an instance.

"Is anything wrong?" Yuhi showed concern seeing how Sasuke had suddenly stopped dead in place.

Upon hearing her voice, Sasuke snapped out of his daze. "Oh no, I'm fine. Just got caught up in some thoughts."

With those words, the two finished their dinner. He put aside his thoughts for the time being and made an effort to clean up the room and wash up all the dishes afterward. While he was doing so, Sasuke offered Yuhi some orange juice that had been lying in his fridge for a while. Yuhi of course loved any form of fruit juice, so she excitedly accepted. With that the night grew darker, so it was time to go to bed. Although a good sleep was rarely a commodity for Sasuke since most of his nights were filled with nightmares, he always went to bed early to wake up early as well.

"I suppose we need to prepare the bed for you." Sasuke thought out loud. "Alright follow me."

"Okay." Yuhi obediently followed as the two of them walked along the long hallway until they reached a clearing. Sasuke's bedroom was the last room of the hallway. The room itself was on the small side of things, and there were definitely ones that were much bigger than this one in the compound. Once again, the room had very little in terms of equipment. Just the bare basics of what one needed to live in a room. Sasuke moved over to the closet built into the wall and pulled out an extra futon.

"I'll set this up in the room next door, so you can sleep there."

"Okay…" Yuhi agreed somewhat hesitantly.

They moved next door, which once again following the recurring theme, was fully empty. It had literally nothing in it, bar the futon that had been placed my Sasuke right now.

"Alright, this should be good. If you need anything, I'll be next door." Making his final remark, Sasuke turned around and left. The day had already been very eventful, and he needed some sleep.

As Yuhi was left alone with the lights turned off, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. The room was eerily quiet once the darkness of the night set into it. The one window in the corner of the room didn't allow in much light since overlooking it were huge bamboo trees that blocked the moonlight from entering. Not that Yuhi wanted to open the windows in the first place since the woods outside seemed even scarier at night time as they rustled in the wind. Yuhi wondered what kind of creatures sought refuge in those woods through the darkness of the night, and tried her best to change her train of thought.

Sasuke on the other hand gave a big yawn as he settled himself into his own futon. There was nothing more comfortable than warmth that was being radiated from the blanket wrapped around him. Even though it was summer, the night was relatively cold. Within a few minutes, Sasuke felt himself drifting away to unconsciousness.

To be continued…

* * *

This memory will continue on in the next chapter. I know this was a bit of an abrupt ending, but this Sasuke segment turned out to be a lot longer than I initially envisioned it to be. Rather than cutting it short, I decided to write the whole thing, but do it in multiple chapters. Also rather than taking a long while in releasing the whole segment, I decided to post this one up while I finished writing the rest.

Anyway, I have been wanting to write about Sasuke for a while. It seems to me that there is quite a bit of Sasuke hate going around, but I personally don't think of him as particularly a bad character. In fact there is a reason behind it. I still remember a long time back (about 5 years ago), me and another one of my friends were debating about Sasuke. He was for him and I was against. I argued how Sasuke was simply selfish and only wanted revenge and to kill everyone, which I'm sure why most people hate him. But my friend argued that he kind of understood how Sasuke felt. If you put yourself in Sasuke's shoes then you start to understand how one would feel if one day their entire family was killed in front of them. At the time I didn't understand much of his argument, but now that I think about it, he was definitely making some good points. While I don't think the path that Sasuke took of revenge or killing is right, I do understand a bit more about the emotional scar that he carries. So in this story I want to expand a bit more on it and show his humane side as well, which has been shown to exist, especially before his family was murdered.

Anyway, I hope you see where I'm coming for and enjoyed the chapter. As always any reviews are appreciated.

Oh and the last manga chapter blew my mind. I won't spoil anything for those who don't follow the manga but Tobi's identity finally revealed? I don't know what to make out of it, but this is certainly getting interesting. Anyway, until next time, take care.


	11. The Compassion Of Sasuke Uchiha

**The Compassion Of Sasuke Uchiha**

Hey guys, welcome back. Not much to say today since I'm extremely tired. Hope you enjoy this segment which will end the Sasuke section :)

* * *

Sasuke on the other hand gave a big yawn as he settled himself into his own futon. There was nothing more comfortable than the warmth that was being radiated from the blanket wrapped around him. Even though it was summer, the night was relatively cold. Within a few minutes, Sasuke felt himself drifting away to unconsciousness, but just when he was almost ready to make that transition, a few knocks came from the door which made him bolt upright. His ninja reflexes were sometimes too much for himself, since for most of his lifetime he always had to be wary of the threat of being assassinated in his sleep. Nonetheless he got up and opened the door only to find Yuhi standing there as expected.

"Is there something you need?" Sasuke asked.

"I need to use the toilet." Yuhi stated while looking down.

"Okay, let's go." Sasuke started walking towards the direction of the guest room once again. The closest toilet was situated a few rooms following the kitchen. As they got there, Sasuke pointed at the toilet and turned around to start to leave.

"A-Ano, do you mind staying here until I'm done?" Yuhi pleaded while looking towards Sasuke.

"Fine, I'll be here." He simply couldn't refuse the earnest request and leaned against the wall next to the toilet door.

"Thank you so much."

Within a minute or so Yuhi came back out and the two of them started walking back together towards their rooms. As they got back in front of Yuhi's room, Sasuke looked back and waved his hand before proceeding to go towards his own. At this point Yuhi quickly jumped towards Sasuke and grabbed the hem of his sleeve.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke turned back and asked.

"A-ano, can you tell me a story?" Yuhi asked looking towards the older man.

"Story? What do you mean?"

"Normally, mommy or daddy tells me a story before I go to sleep." Yuhi explained. The reality was that she was rather afraid of staying alone in that room and the whole emptiness of the Uchiha compound really unnerved her. She was just a child after all.

It took a second before Sasuke realised what Yuhi was asking for and why she was doing so. If it had been any other time he would have shown little benevolence, but after getting to know her, he felt compassionate towards the child.

"I guess I can try at least until you fall asleep." Sasuke sighed. He wondered about his own decisions that he was making as they seemed very peculiar to his own self.

"Really? Thanks!" Yuhi showed gratitude as she went inside her room and got inside her futon once again and pulled the blanket over herself. Sasuke took a seat against the wall a bit further from the futon and crossed his hands across his chest.

"So what do you want to hear?" Sasuke questioned. He rarely ever talked to anyone, let alone tell stories.

"Umm, anything as long as it's interesting."

Sasuke thought hard on what he could tell. Of course there were almost no limits to the experiences he had gone through, but none of them were accounts that could be relayed to a five year old, and neither did he really want to share many of those experiences. As he thought desperately, something finally struck him. He thought he could pull this off on the fly.

"I guess I'll tell you the story of two ninjas who were also best friends."

"Okay, that sounds fun." Yuhi looked at Sasuke with a gleam in her eyes.

"There were two young boys who went to the ninja academy, both wanting to become strong ninjas. One of them was the best in the class, excelling in everything that was taught while the other was the absolute worst, mostly just playing silly pranks."

Yuhi now paid full attention to Sasuke as the prologue of the story was told.

"Although the differences seemed of night and day, they both had something in common. Both of them had no family and they were alone. They could understand how each other felt, unlike most people around them."

"Wait wait wait!" Yuhi stopped Sasuke before he could go any further. "You never told me their names."

"Names…oh." Sasuke cursed himself inwardly as he hadn't thought about this beforehand, even though the names of the characters were obvious information needed to be given. "Ummm yeah I remember now. The genius' name was Sasuto Uchimaki and the loser's name was Naruske Uzuha."

"Hmmm, those names sound familiar and stupid." Yuhi looked up at the ceiling as she thought about the names.

"Hey now, it's not nice to make fun of others' name." Sasuke didn't want anyone to pick faults with the names he came up on the fly; to him they sounded passable given the situation. "Plus I'm sure you have never heard of those names as they are quite unique. You are probably just overthinking things."

"No I have definitely hea…"

"ANYWAY! Let's continue on with the story." Sasuke immediately stopped Yuhi from investigating further or this could get troublesome. "As I was explaining, the two boys had similar situations but they competed against each other. Since Sasuto was the best in class and the centre of attention, Naruske always tried to overtake him to gain fame. In return Sasuto also tried his best to beat Naruske at everything since he didn't want to lose to the worst student in class. So the two of them had a rivalry going."

Sasuke stopped to recollect the next part of the story, but at this point Yuhi was completely engaged with the story.

"What happened next?" She questioned.

"Funnily enough, at the end of their academy days the two were put in the same team. By going through missions and spending time together, they got to know understand each other quite well. Even though they had that competitive atmosphere between them, the two became the best of friends over time. Both of them recognised each other as worthy rivals and thrived to best each other always, which kept them on their toes. Indeed before long the two had grown very strong."

"Wow that sounds amazing."

"Yes but all was not good. Sasuto was someone who in reality was very vengeful. He sought power to have revenge upon those who destroyed his family and the power he was gaining while competing with his friend was not enough. So when a bad person called Mirochimaru offered him more power, Sasuto decided to betray everyone and left the village."

"That's terrible. How could he do that?" Sadness clouded Yuhi's face to see the story take turn.

"Yes I suppose you could say that. At the time Sasuto didn't know better. He was foolish and blinded by hate and anger which made him only think of revenge, since he had such a traumatic past. But Naruske couldn't allow his best friend to simply go in the wrong path and so he pledged to bring Sasuto back even if his own life depended on it."

"Naruske really cared for Sasuto." Yuhi reaffirmed.

"Yes, so he chased Sasuto across the nation until he met him at a place called the Valley of the end. There the two staged an epic battle. Sasuto sought to sever the last tie of friendship so that nothing would hold him back, while on the other hand Naruske wanted to keep that tie intact. To Naruske, Sasuto was more than just a friend, but rather a brother he never had. At the end of that battle Sasuto won and left."

"No that can't be the end. It's too sad." Yuhi seemed like she was ready to cry.

Sasuke actually smiled very lightly seeing the little girl's reaction. "Don't worry it isn't over yet. Naruske was not someone who would give up easily. Even though he lost, he never went back on his word and meant to keep the pledge he made of bringing back Sasuto. So years upon years passed as Naruske chased Sasuto, failed attempts after failed attempts. In this time Sasuto found out that the true culprits behind his family's death was the village elders and decided he would destroy the village itself. But Naruske, who was also initially treated as an outcast by the villager chose the complete opposite and fought to save the village. Over time he became the strongest in the village and became known as its hero. So Naruske decided he would take all of Sasuto's hate in order to save the village. Naruske was determined to save everyone because he was the true hero of the ninja world."

Yuhi didn't say anything in response this time so Sasuke continued.

"Although he failed to reach Sasuto at first, he kept on trying. Even though Sasuto could think of nothing but revenge due to being betrayed by his own village, over time Naruske showed him through both his actions and words that there were still people that cared for him, and Naruske put himself on the life to break the never ending cycle of revenge. Finally after much deliberation Naruske managed to convince Sasuto of his erroneous ways and bring him back to the village. From then on, the two maintained their original form of rivalry they had when they were younger, but they both considered each other the closest of friends and would be there for the other whenever need be. Sasuke and Naruto were both best friends and brothers at the same time."

It took Sasuke only a second to realise he had messed up at the epilogue with the names. All of his efforts of keeping his own identity hidden from the story he was telling was in vain. He looked over to Yuhi not knowing how he would explain himself. But to his surprise and relief he saw that the little girl had her eyes closed and was fully asleep.

He sighed in relief knowing his cover wasn't blown. He finally got up from his sitting position to get back to his own room. Before he started walking, Sasuke looked back at the peaceful face of the sleeping girl who seemed to be having a sweet dream. One look at it and anyone's heart would be set at rest no matter how troubled it may be.

'Your daughter definitely does go after you Naruto. I'm truly glad to see you have such a great family. But then again, you of all people deserve the love and adoration of those around you.' Sasuke thought as he started walking towards his room next door. It had certainly been one of the most eventful nights he had in a while.

Yuhi was woken up from her sleep from a very sharp cry of a rooster. This was certainly a new experience for her. She got up quickly from her futon and quickly headed for the door of the room to survey the situation outside. As she walked out, the light morning sunlight caused her to close her eyes. Within a few seconds though, her pupils adjusted accordingly to allow for her vision to become perfect. Yuhi looked around to see the figure of a man sitting at the far edge of the hallway leading to the open area in front of the house. As she walked straight she could see Sasuke sitting on the steps with his hands lowered to ground level. Upon getting closer she found that Sasuke actually had a handful of rice grains which a rooster and a hen were eating out of, who were in turn surrounded by about five baby chicks.

Yuhi made a large 'Awwwww' sound as she squatted down next to Sasuke.

"They are SO cute. I didn't know you had pets." Yuhi exclaimed in excitement.

"Well, I suppose these guys are all I have who keep me company." Sasuke replied as he watched the rooster and the hen eating out of the palm of his hand.

"I love birds so much. I love pets. But unfortunately we don't have any at home." Yuhi's enthusiasm was dying down a bit.

Seeing the hint of dejection in her face, Sasuke proposed, "Do you want to feed them?"

Instantly Yuhi's face shot up, "Can I?"

"Sure. Open your hand."

Yuhi followed his order and opened the palm of her right hand. Sasuke proceeded to pour the remaining rice grains from his own hand on to hers. Yuhi then put her hand in front of the two birds very slowly so as not to scare them away. The two birds at first hesitated a bit seeing the unknown figure giving them food, but soon started eating the rice grains off of Yuhi's hands.

"This feels ticklish." Yuhi giggled out feeling the sensation she got every time the hen or the rooster poked her hand to retrieve their food.

Sasuke watched over the Yuhi as within a minute or so her hand was fully emptied and the two birds started walking away towards some unknown territory with the young chicks on the mother's tail.

"Aren't the young ones going to eat anything?" Yuhi questioned looking back at Sasuke.

"No, they can't eat rice yet. There's a special formula that I prepare and leave near the coop for them to eat."

"I see." Yuhi smiled looking at the group walking away. "They look so nice together."

"Yes, they do keep me company." Sasuke replied also looking at the direction Yuhi was looking. "Would you like to go see if the hen laid any eggs?"

Yuhi jumped up instantly from her position, "YES YES!"

"Alright then let's go." Sasuke said as he descended down the steps on to the earth and took a left. Yuhi followed.

Within a few seconds they came across a chicken coop which looked to be like a small replica of a castle like house. The door on the coop seemed only large enough for the actual birds to enter.

"If you put your hand in and feel around, you will find out if any eggs were laid." Sasuke explained.

Yuhi took Sasuke's advice and put her small right hand in, as far as she could and moved it around in an arc. It took her a few seconds but soon enough her right hand touched something oval shaped and warm. Her face instantly lighted up as she pulled the object out and confirmed it to be a large white coloured chicken egg.

"I found one, I found one! It's an egg!" Yuhi shouted in joy as she showed her discovery to Sasuke.

Looking back at her, Sasuke actually ruffled her hair slightly, which still remained disorderly from being in the bed.

"Well done." He complimented.

Yuhi smiled back at Sasuke and handed the egg over to him.

"Here, this belongs to you." She added.

"Well you don't have to give it to me. If you want, that is a gift for you." Sasuke said kindly.

"Really? Thank you so much." Yuhi hugged the egg closely to herself.

"Anyway, I'll head in and prepare breakfast. You should go wash your face and get refreshed."

Yuhi nodded at Sasuke's statement as he started to walk towards the kitchen.

In about 15 minutes Yuhi had washed her face, brushed her teeth, combed her hair and everything else that needed to be done in the morning. Yuhi also made sure to take her gift from Sasuke and put it in her bag. She then walked into the guest room to find Sasuke laying down a few plates of food on the table. Yuhi walked in and took a seat on one side of the table.

"I prepared a fried egg sandwich with lettuce and some milk. Is that good?" Sasuke asked as he put her plate in front of her.

"This looks delicious!" Yuhi's mouth watered as she saw the sandwich. She picked it up with both hands and took a hug bite off it. "So good." She said.

"Glad you like it." Sasuke replied back as he sat down on the opposite side of the table and started eating his own breakfast.

It took Yuhi a few minutes but finally looked at Sasuke's breakfast and asked, "What are you eating?"

"I'm just eating the leftovers from last night. That's what I normally tend to do anyway."

Yuhi gave Sasuke a concerned look only to find him enjoying his meal without complain. So she continued eating her own sandwich. The egg used was very recently laid, so it had a very fresh texture to it. The overall meal was very nutritious and tasty, one that Sasuke had decided on especially taking Yuhi into consideration. But of course he wouldn't mention that to anyone. It was also a meal that Yuhi enjoyed greatly, who was otherwise rather picky about the food that she ate. Nonetheless, the two continued to enjoy their respective meals for the next few minutes after which Sasuke quickly cleared up. As Sasuke returned from the kitchen, he found Yuhi standing outside the room looking outwards at the open area next to the hallway. Seeing her, Sasuke thought of something.

"Do you want to go somewhere nice?" He asked.

"Sure. Where is it?" Yuhi's interest was piqued once again, who was naturally very energetic to begin with.

"Well, you'll find out soon enough." Sasuke stated as he started walking eastwards.

After walking for a few minutes, the two soon arrived at the embankment of a lake. A small wooden platform extended slightly on top of the water. It was a lake that belonged to the Uchiha clan.

"Uwaaaa!" Yuhi cried out as she relished the light blue water surrounded by greenery in all directions. The place was very relaxing and naturally beautiful.

"I guess I could show you something even cooler." Sasuke remarked from behind Yuhi.

"Ever cooler?" Yuhi asked who was at this point mesmerised by her surroundings. What could be even better than this?

"Alright I need you to stand back a bit." Sasuke walked over to the edge of the platform and took a deep breath. Within a split second he performed a number of hand seals and shouted, "FIRE STYLE: BLAZE BALL!"

Sasuke exhaled a gigantic ball of fire the size of the entire lake. The light given off by the intense flames of the jutsu reflected from the surface of the water which made for dazzling lighting effects. It looked like countless fireworks had gone off in one instant and some of the water from the surface of the lake boiled upwards as steam. Within a few seconds the ball of flame disappeared, but the steam from the heated up water kept rising. This event was very similar to one Sasuke was involved in when he was very close to Yuhi's age. He remembered how he had brought his father to this lake to show him the fireball jutsu he had mastered then. That jutsu covered only a small portion of the lake and his father was overall unimpressed with the result, even though he worked extremely hard for it. This jutsu was of course much stronger than the fireball technique and a complete step up. Perhaps seeing this, his father would have been proud, but then again maybe not, since very little ever shook that man's emotion.

"AMAZING!" Yuhi shouted as she clasped her hands together. Whether Sasuke's father would have been proud or not, Naruto's daughter was certainly happy. "I've never seen anything like it. So beautiful."

"Well it wasn't much." Sasuke scratched the back of his head trying not to take much credit. "I'm just glad you liked it."

"Yeah I loved it." Yuhi looked at Sasuke with gleaming eyes. "I guess I'll show you something nice as well."

With her final words Yuhi turned around to face the lake and kneeled down close to the surface of the water. Soon after she grabbed her right wrist tightly with her left and started form a rasengan in the palm of her hand. As soon as the technique was complete she plunged it into the water. The intense angular momentum of the rasengan was also passed on to the surrounding water. Very soon a giant whirlpool started form from the point where the rasengan was submerged, the rotation of the water being fierce. The water spun for almost a good one minute before it finally started to calm down. This demonstration was also almost as impressive as the one Sasuke had put on a few minutes ago.

Sasuke looked at the water wide-eyed as he couldn't believe what he just saw.

"You can use the rasengan?" He could only ask.

"Yeah, I learned recently. Isn't it cool?" She inquired with a lovely grin. "Daddy taught me about putting the rasengan in water as well, but I never got to do it in such a big lake."

"Wow…" That was all that escaped the spectacled Sasuke's mouth. "I never would have imagined a little girl being able to use that technique."

"Thank you. I love training with mommy and daddy since they teach me many new techniques. Plus grandpa teaches me the Hyuuga's gentle fist."

"I see, in that case perhaps you would like to train today with me?" Sasuke was certainly intrigued and wanted to know more about her strength.

"I would love it." Yuhi answered back.

With that the two set off practice. They practiced shuriken and kunai throwing, light sparring and Sasuke even showed her a few of his other techniques. Before long the day had already passed by in a flash and night was now getting darker. Sasuke and Yuhi had just finished eating dinner and sat in the guest room in anticipation of someone coming to pick Yuhi up. After all Naruto did say he would be back today.

The clock showed exactly 10:00 PM. Just as suddenly the bell rang 24 hours ago when Yuhi arrived, another bell now rang.

"That is probably your father." Sasuke stated as he got up to head towards the door. Yuhi followed in his tail.

But as soon as Sasuke opened the door, he saw something that he most certainly did not expect. The entire Konoha 12 and Sai were standing in front of his house waiting in anticipation for him to open the door. Naruto was the only one missing.

Something was definitely going to happen and Sasuke had no clue what.

* * *

Yes, this memory will continue on. Plus next chapter will reveal more about the Konoha 12 of the future. I think quite a few of you were waiting for this. So until then, laters :)


	12. Haunted House Expedition Part 1

**Haunted House Expedition Part 1**

Finally managed to write barely enough to post a chapter (for me that's beyond 3000 words normally). Sometimes it can be a bit tough to come up with ideas to write about, but even harder is being able to put to those ideas down (which tend to come at random) in a coherent manner that others can read and hopefully enjoy. Nonetheless, I hope you will like the scenario that I present in this chapter.

* * *

Something was definitely going to happen and Sasuke had no clue what.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked looking questioningly at the audience he had before him.

"I was going to ask the same thing." An older Shikamaru replied. "Naruto was the one who called us all here, but where is he? Is he inside?"

At that moment Yuhi peeked her head out to everyone's surprise.

"MOMMY!" Yuhi shouted as she ran into Hinata's arms, who was standing at the very back.

"Yuhi?" Hinata was extremely surprised to see her daughter. "What are you doing here? Is your daddy with you?"

"No; daddy sent me here yesterday night. He said he had something important to do."

"Naruto sent you here?" Ino asked.

"Yes." This time Sasuke cut in. "He sent a letter telling me to take care of her for a day since he had to go to an emergency meeting with the Tsuchikage, and that he would pick her up tonight. In fact we were anticipating his arrival anytime now, but I certainly wasn't expecting all of you to show up."

"Naruto told us all to get here before midnight, at about 10:00 PM." Sakura said.

"I was not made aware of this." Sasuke informed. "I wonder where he is right n….."

With a puff of smoke, a shadowy figure appeared beside Hinata and Yuhi.

"CHIWA-SSU!" greeted the shadowy figure. As the smoke cleared, it turned out to be none other than Naruto himself. "I'm all done."

"CHIWA-UUU!" Yuhi shouted right back as she jumped on to her father, failing to imitate his greeting properly.

"AWWW, you almost had it this time honey." Naruto said lovingly as he spun his daughter around mid-air. "Have you been well my little princess?"

"I'm great." Yuhi replied back instantly.

"Dude it's friggin night time now, so don't give us that." Kiba complained sitting on top of his dog Akamaru.

"It doesn't matter. It was worth it just to hear Yuhi's response." Neji pointed out with a huge grin on his face, which in a split second turned dark as he gazed upon Naruto. 'Darn you Naruto; you pulled a fast one on me this time, but I'll get you next time. I gotta try that though. She's soooooooo cuuuuuute even when she says it wrong.'

"Neji just calm down." Tenten could feel Neji get flustered and so tried to comfort him.

"Anyway; why did you call us here?" Shikamaru asked with a sigh.

"You'll find out right now. Let's go in." Naruto had a huge grin on his face, which told everyone something definitely was off.

As the group walked into the Uchiha household everyone could only scratch their heads as to what Naruto had planned for them. Whenever he grouped them up though, it was never for anything good.

"So? What is it?" Ino asked in anticipation.

Naruto took a deep breath before beginning.

"I assume you all know of the incident that took place in this compound at the night that which is not spoken of?" Naruto asked in a grim tone.

Sasuke gave Naruto a sideways glance. While he had no doubts that Naruto meant nothing ill towards him or the Uchiha, he still wondered why Naruto brought the topic up in front of all their friends.

"Y-Yea, of course we know." Sakura replied hesitantly. "But why even bring up that incident?"

"Indeed everyone here knows about the Uchiha massacre. Of course I won't go into the nitty gritty details of what happened at that night since my little daughter is here, but countless Uchiha met their untimely demise at this very place we are standing."

At that very comment everyone started to fidget around in position with unease. But Naruto wasn't done yet.

"The same can be said for every room and hallway in this entire compound. Some say that on nights when the moon is full just like it was on that night, one can hear faint cries permeating through this entire compound." Just as the last statement finished, the lights went off and the room was plunged into complete darkness. Naruto pulled out a flashlight and held it below his chin vertically, so the light would shine only his face, which held a very sinister grin. "Oh and just so you know, tonight just happens to be a night with a full moon."

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA!" Shouted most of the girls in unison. Although the reactions of the guys were not as extreme, most of them gave at least a small eek.

"KONO BAKAAAAAAAAAA!" Sakura shouted as she swung her right Herculean fist like a hammer at Naruto without restraint, but Naruto easily slithered behind her back in the darkness without effort.

"I know all your weaknesses, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered close to Sakura's ears.

"EYAAAAAAAA!" Sakura gave a shrill squeak before plopping down on the ground covering her ears.

"Alright man, just stop it already." Shikamaru sighed once again. "What does any of this have to do with us coming here anyway?"

"As always, you get right to the point Shikamaru-kun." Naruto laughed. "The reason I called you here is for this AWESOME adventure we are going to have. Somewhere in this compound I have hidden my headband and I want all of us to split into groups of two to find the headband. I call it THE HAUNTED HOUSE EXPEDITION."

Everyone instantly turned around and started walking towards the exit, bar Sakura, who was still covering her ears in fear.

"See you tomorrow hokage-sama." Kiba stated curtly. "I'll give you my mission report then."

"HEY WAIT, LET ME FINISH!" Naruto shouted. "Whichever team finds the headband first will have one of their wishes granted. Whatever that wish may be, as long as it's within my power I'll grant you it, as the hokage."

Naruto's statement made everyone stop dead in their tracks and turn around. This prospect certainly sounded much more interesting given the reward.

"Hokage, you got yourself a deal." Tenten smiled back and attached herself to Neji's right arm. "Of course my partner will be Neji. You'll work hard for me won't you my dear loving husband?"

"Uggh, stop calling calling me that. And stop clinging to me." Neji tried to shake off Tenten but to no avail.

"Neji stop being such a tsundere." Tenten teased. "You are quite the opposite when we are by ourselves. Oh the unspeakable things you have done to me."

Neji's face flushed a furious red as the others in the room started giggling.

"Yeah it's nice you two are so close and all, but I know what are thinking." Naruto pointed out in a sulky tone. "You can't use any kind of ninjutsu or keke genkai to find the headband. So the Byakugan is off limits."

"Hey that's not fair." Tenten protested. "You already know where the headband is, so we don't have a chance."

"I don't since I made a shadow clone put the headband in place and I won't dispel it until this whole thing ends. So I won't be getting the information back until the end. Trust me, I'm not lying."

Naruto made his last statement with a serious look, one that would not be accompanied by a liar. Plus everyone knew that Naruto was a prankster, but never a liar. So the fairness of the game was not a question.

"Fine I can tell he's not lying." Ino stated back to everyone. "So who do we team up with?"

"You can choose whoever you want, so decide amongst yourselves." Naruto instructed. "Of course I'll be the one to protect my lovely wife from the unimaginable horrors that lie within this compound. My princess you have nothing to fear, for your knight in shining armour is here."

"Naruto, just never try be a poet again." Kiba facepalmed. "Seriously dude, that was enough of a trauma to last a lifetime."

"I-I actually thought that was beautiful Naruto-kun." Hinata stated as she fiddled around with her index finger like she did when she was much younger.

"EAT THAT!" Naruto expressed his triumphant victory as he moved over next to Hinata and grabbed her by the waist and drew her closer to him.

"Hinata you are too easy to impress." Ino sighed.

"Anyway, I guess I'll go with Chouji, if that's alright with you old pal." Shikamaru looked towards his old teammate. "My wife in Suna would kill me if she found out I paired up with another female, even if she happens to be my old teammate. Not that I want to pair up with another female in the first place.

"It's cool bro. It'll be just like old times." Chouji smiled. "Plus I'm not too good with ghosts, so having you along with really give me a boost."

"Shino, let's win this and get something cool in return from the hokage. What do you say we show 'em our teamwork, since we are still teammates who consistently go on missions together?" Kiba bragged.

"I could not ask for a better partner." Shino gave a short but straightforward answer.

"Lee-san, we have not had much opportunity to interact before." Sai said to Lee with a smile. "I believe this may be a good opportunity for me to know one of my fellow peers a bit better. So what do you say we work together on this one?"

"Of course. I would not ever reject a youthful request made by my comrade." Lee had fire burning in his eyes. "Let us combine our strengths and WIN this."

"Oh I almost forgot, Yuhi you can come with us." Naruto called his daughter towards him and Hinata, but she started walking the opposite way.

"No daddy, I will go with uncle Sasuke this time." Yuhi stood next to Sasuke and looked up to him. "Let's do our best."

Sasuke as well as everyone looked at Yuhi in surprise.

"If you are okay with me, then I've no reason to reject." Sasuke replied back with a smile, unlike one that anyone expected.

"Wow, that's certainly surprising." Naruto told Hinata who was a few inches from him.

"I think it's wonderful." Hinata replied back to Naruto.

"I guess that leaves us forehead." Ino said to Sakura who was still sitting on the ground with fear. "Come on now, get up. I want to win this as well."

Ino grabbed Sakura's right hand and pulled her up. Sakura slapped her cheeks a few times to snap out of her daze.

"Yeah, let's win." Sakura stated confidently. "You better be ready to pay up Naruto. This WILL cost you."

"We shall see." Naruto smirked back. "Since everyone is teamed up, let's not waste any more time. The first team to find my headband is the winner. Now DISPERSE."

As soon as he yelled his last statement, everyone vanished with a poof of smoke. The adventure was just about to commence.

15 minutes had passed since the game officially begun. Naruto and Hinata were now walking side by side in what seemed like the longest hallway they had ever traversed. Only the dim moonlight lit the path in front of them. Barely anything could be seen, but their eyes had adapted to the darkness which allowed for a somewhat better visibility for the couple. Hinata was not too good with these kinds of spooky situations, and so kept a firm hold of Naruto's right hand with both of hers.

"Hinata-chan, you seem to be holding my hand very tightly. Are you maybe scared right now?" Naruto asked.

"N-No, of course I'm not scared." Hinata argued as she let go of Naruto's hand. "I'm a kunoichi after all. I've had to face much worse than some dark house with potentially very scary monsters or unknown creatures lying in wait who I can do nothing against even with all the ninja powers I may have. Of course there is nothing to be scared."

"You know, you can always hold on to me tightly and not let go." Naruto had a smirk on his face. "I'm sure that will make you feel a bit more secure."

"No thanks. I think I can handle myself." Hinata pouted. "I'm not as helpless as you may think."

"Are you sure you are not scared?" Naruto insisted.

"I'm fine." Hinata reassured herself more so than Naruto as she surveyed her surroundings. "I'm definitely not sca-"

Before she could finish her statement, a door to the right of them broke clean off the hinges and slammed on to the ground with a resounding thud.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAA!" Hinata screamed and jumped instinctively towards Naruto, who she knew would protect her from any danger.

The two crashed on to the floor with Hinata lying on top of Naruto with her arms draped around him, holding on to him for dear life with her eyes closed. Naruto on the other hand had a look of heavenly bliss on his face as he looked up at the ceiling and took the feeling in.

'Bring a woman to a scary place and get a little taste of heaven on earth.' Naruto remembered Jiraiya say.

"This must what he meant when he talked about the pleasures of living." Naruto said out loud by mistake.

Naruto's unusual statement finally broke Hinata out of her fear driven trance and she instantaneously jumped off of him. She looked at Naruto with an expression that was a mix between anger and surprise.

"Awww, you got off already?" Naruto asked with sadness in his tone. "I was hoping it would last a bit longer."

"How could you Naruto-kun, taking advantage of the situation like that?" Hinata pouted.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but I couldn't help it." Naruto pleaded his case. "I'm a man after all."

"That's NOT it. You know I wouldn't mind such a thing, in fact it's quite the opposite. Oh no…what are you making me say? But getting back to the point, I was really scared right there." Hinata's words were all a mess as she struggled to convey her feelings.

"But we have done much more than that." Naruto winked at Hinata, whose face turned a bright red hue.

"What happens in the bedroom STAYS in the bedroom." Hinata ordered resolutely.

"Oh, that's a bold statement. I like the feel of that" Naruto complimented his wife whose face by now had the same complexion of a tomato.

"Stop making me say such things. Also, don't think I haven't realised what you are doing here. I'm about to set things straight right NOW." She jumped towards Naruto with her last word, but he had already slipped past her and started running down the hallway.

"Oh no, I've already been figured out. I gotta make a run for it. The fun can't just end here."

"Get BACK here Naruto-kun." Hinata shouted as she chased after Naruto to end his scheme. "I WILL get you."

"Uwa Hinata-chan, scary." Naruto commented as he looked back at his wife, who had an infuriated look on her face. Hinata barely ever got angry, but on the very rare occasions that she genuinely did, it was never good news for him. Nonetheless he was having way too much fun being chased around by Hinata to stop what he was doing.

Fortunately for Naruto, despite him not knowing, this was not one of those occasions. Even though Hinata was initially scared, she was now fully enjoying the moment chasing Naruto around the Uchiha compound. It gave her the feeling of a childhood memory she never had. If she and Naruto would have been childhood friends, maybe they would have ran around like this trying to catch one another while playing a game of tag. But none of that really mattered any longer as she danced around all the obstacles in her way to close the gap between herself and Naruto. This was one of the reasons why she loved him so much. Life was most certainly never boring around Naruto.

On another part of the compound, Neji and Tenten walked around the courtyard trying to find their objective. This version of Neji peculiarly wore his headband across his right thigh. On his head however there was no sign of the caged bird seal, which was precisely the reason why he no longer wore the headband across his forehead. He wanted everyone to know that he was no longer an inferior Hyuuga and celebrated his freedom to choose his own destiny. The older Tenten on the other hand had two katana on her back crossing each other. Her body was decorated with various kunai, shuriken, knives and all sorts of weapons one could imagine from top to bottom. Of course she also carried a gigantic scroll on her back which had another thousand assortment of weapons sealed inside it. Due to her appearance and expertise, she had gained the title of the weapon master of Konoha. She was the perfect definition of the term overkill in every sense of the way. Tenten carefully surveyed her surroundings for anything resembling a headband while Neji was busy looking around for anything that may seem ghastly.

"Neji let's split up. You go check out the right side and I'll go left. We'll meet up here once we have finished looking."

"NO, we will stick together." Neji ordered.

"Listen, if we don't split up and look, the others will find the headband before us. This would have been a lot easier if you could use your Byakugan, but unfortunately that's not an option since we don't want to be disqualified. So the best thing to do is to look around separately."

"It's too dangerous. There might be something dangerous lurking around that may get you." Neji tried to convince Tenten.

"I'll be just fine. If there's anything that looks intimidating, I'll just pull out my 1000 weapons and make mincemeat out of them."

"Something might get me." This time his tone was more of someone who was pleading as opposed to someone who was ordering.

"Just use your Byakugan if push comes to shove." Tenten turned around to leave when Neji grabbed a hold of her hand.

"You can't leave me here. You have duties as a wife." Neji looked like he was almost about to cry.

"Seriously Neji, stop being such a sissy and go search for that friggin headband. Think about all the good times we can have at some resort or something. Heck maybe we could have like a second honeymoon." Tenten smiled as she imagined the luxuries that awaited her once she won the contest.

"I don't care, this is too scary. I want to go home." Neji was in a state of unrest.

"If I didn't know better, I would question your manhood right now. I can't stand this anymore." Tenten was getting infuriated and started to power walk away from Neji, who now grabbed hold of her with both hands and started to slide along with Tenten.

"Don't leave me. I'll get eaten alive." Neji confessed his darkest fears

"Let go off me. I can't believe I picked you as a teammate. A three year old kid would be better than you."

"No no no, please don't go. I'll do anything you tell me. Like clean the house, mow the lawn, do the dishes. I'll even learn how to cook. Just don't go."

Tenten thought this would be a chance not to miss. "If you put it that way, I suppose I'll accompany you. But make sure you keep your promise."

"I will. Have I ever lied to you my angel?" Neji questioned to prove his point.

"I guess not. Well anyway, let's go. We've already wasted enough time."

Just as soon as the two turned and started walking, a black creature dropped from the tree behind them and gave a cry which seemed to Neji to be even more intense than the roar of a tiger.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAA AAAAAAAA!" He shouted and jumped on to Tenten, who was more surprised at Neji's reaction than the creature itself.

Neji was completely off the ground and was holding on to Tenten as if she were a tree stump.

"IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE! IT'S THE BLACK BEAST! IT'S THE CREATURE OF THE NIGHT AND ITS HERE TO EAT ME! SAVE ME TENTEN, SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS! He shouted hoping his life would be spared or saved.

"Calm down." She said, but he still kept going.

"CALM DOWN." Tenten shouted on top of her lungs this time to which Neji finally reacted and quietened down. "Just listen."

"Meow." Came a cry from the alleged black beast, which just turned out to be a black coloured cat.

Neji turned his head around to confirm that it was indeed a cat, after which he immediately got off Tenten. He once again took a dignified position and cleared his throat.

"Well it seems this area is clear and there's nothing to see here. Let us move on." Neji stated in a calm tone.

"DON'T TRY TO ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED!" Tenten yelled as she pulled a paper fan out of her back and slapped Neji across his head knocking him to the ground.

"I'm done with you." She said and started walking away.

"No, don't leave MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Neji shouted, which could be heard all across the compound.

To be continued...

* * *

I feel like I need to apologize to any Neji fans out there. I think I singlehandedly destroyed pretty much his entire character in this one chapter, but I had a ton of fun doing it, so it's justified ;) I'm sorry.

Don't worry though. Now that we have the premise set, next chapter will feature the rest of the crew. So what did you think? And who do you think is going to win this crazy contest? Let me know your thoughts.

Until next time, don't walk in dark hallways.


	13. Haunted House Expedition Part 2

**Haunted House Expedition Part 2**

Wow. It has certainly been a long time since the last time I wrote a chapter. So for now lets just get on with the chapter.

* * *

On the other end of the Uchiha compound Shikamaru and Chouji heard the cry of distress. This older version of Shikamaru had a beard similar to his late sensei. Chouji had remained mostly the same, only at closer look would one realise that he had become a bit more slender.

"What was that?" Chouji asked looking at his partner next to him with a concerned face.

"It seemed like someone was crying for help." Shikamaru stated calmly. "If I heard correctly, it was Neji's voice."

"Oh no, then the rumours were true. This place is haunted after all. Do you think they got him?"

"No way, of course those are just silly stories made up by people." Shikamaru consoled.

"Then why was Neji screaming?" Chouji asked again.

"I don't know, but perhaps we should head towards that direction to see if they need any help. Maybe something happened."

"Man I don't like this one bit." Chouji fidgeted around in place. "This place gives me the heebie-jeebies. I feel like I'm about to be jumped."

"Nothing of that sort will happen, just relax."

"Just look around you dude; this place is definitely home to some ghosts and goblins." Chouji turned around to face Shikamaru.

"Don't make me laugh. There's no such thing as ghosts. It's only man made stuff." Shikamaru said with a sly smile. Unbeknownst to him though the shadows behind him had somehow started emerging from the ground and flared like flames blown by the wind.

"Is that so?" Chouji asked with a paranoid look on his face. "Then explain to me what that thing behind you is."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked as he turned his head around. The shadows instantly started moving towards the two.

"Don't look now but we are being chased by some crazy shadows." Chouji shouted out to Shikamaru, but Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen. Only after turning around did Chouji realise that his friend was already a mile away from their assailant.

"Hey wait; don't leave me behind. I thought we were friends."

"Yeah, I'm gone." Shikamaru shouted back from a mile away. "That thing does NOT look friendly."

"Didn't you just say you didn't believe in the paranormal? Plus you are the shadow specialist, so do something about it."

"Screw that. And why do I always get put in these stupid situations. This is too troublesome."

"The shadows are gaining on us." Chouji stated as he looked back. "Don't talk, just run."

"Is it too much for a man to ask for a peaceful life?" Shikamaru asked in exasperation. "DARN YOU NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ino and Sakura gave a small "eep" and looked at each other in response to the faraway voice. Future Sakura had long flowing pink hair, wore a similar long sleeved version of her current day attire as well as knee high boots, which highly matched Ino's getup. The two were almost identical in appearance except for Sakura's obsession with pink and Ino's obsession of purple.

"You heard that right?" Ino asked with outright fear in her face. "I think someones called out to Naruto."

"Yeah if I heard correct, it was Shikamaru." Sakura had the same grim expression on her face as Ino.

"And it was the second scream." Ino added. "Before it was Neji."

"I know. Neji and Shikamaru. I wonder what happened to them." Sakura gulped. "Maybe we should go over and check."

"I don't even think I want to know what's happening." Ino held both of her hands close to her chest. "At first this seemed like another one of Naruto's silly games from which I could cash in some cool price. But now I just want to get the heck out of here."

"Seriously come on now." Sakura tried to put on a fake smile on her face and failed completely. "I mean I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Those two are just fine. Let's find that headband. I don't want to lose to Naruto."

Ino and Sakura felt like they needed to change the uneasy atmosphere around them for the better, so they struck up a conversation.

"Speaking of Naruto, it seems he and Hinata have come a long way huh?" Ino changed the topic as they started walking again.

"Would you have ever imagined when we were in the academy that Naruto and Hinata would be together ever?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

"Haha that's a good one. Seeing as how Naruto had such a huge crush on you, no. But it would be very funny now that you did bring it up to see past Hinata's reaction if she found out about her future. I think such a thing would be priceless." Ino joked.

"Indeed, if only it was possible." Sakura wondered the possibilities. "I bet she would faint."

Elsewhere, beyond Sakura's comprehension, the present Hinata watching the scene had already fainted previously seeing her and future Naruto's scuffle. The irony was intense.

"I agree. But this is quite sad actually when I think about it." Ino sighed. "The rest of our group all have gotten married and started their own families, expect for Sasuke of course, but he's a special case. Even Chouji and Lee. Lee's son is already looking like he will be a clone of his father."

"Yeah, we are the only ones who are still single. Plus we aren't getting any younger." Sakura sighed as well. "We used to be so popular back in the day. Who would have thought of this predicament?"

"You have only yourself to blame Sakura. If only you had accepted Naruto, right now you would be equivalent to the queen of Konoha, as the hokage's wife. I bet you feel remorse now."

"Maybe just a little bit." Sakura said looking up at the sky as she thought, _"A day doesn't pass by where I don't regret the decisions I made in regards to Naruto's feelings towards me."_

"Well whatever. I think the title of king and queen of konoha, if there were such things would fit Naruto and Hinata more than anyone else. Naruto is the son of the fourth hokage, which makes him akin to royalty and the prince of Konoha. Hinata was already considered the princess from when she was the firstborn amongst Konoha's highest nobility. It almost feels as though they were fated to be together. Compared to them we are just the peasants."

"Way to put things in such a depressing way." Sakura sighed. "But I guess you are right, those titles do fit them perfectly, since they're the ones who did their best also."

As the two were busy talking, a very light layer of mist had spread over the surrounding area. That layer of mist was now getting denser by the second, which was making visibility low.

"Wait Sakura is it me or does this fog seem a bit unusual?" Ino asked with an alarmed look. "It's the middle of summer and konoha isn't particularly known to be foggy."

Their conversation was cut short by a shrill sound that sent shivers down their spines. It was a voice that could literally cause frostbite on your skin. The two girls jumped in response and grabbed each other in fear.

"W-W-W-W-W-W-What was that?" Ino shivered.

"D-Don't as me." Sakura replied looking around. From within the dense fog two sources of light could be seen. "Wait I think someone's here. No need to worry."

The two moved in closer to meet up with whoever had brought the lights to them, but what they saw next was not something that they wanted to see. A disembodied head of a woman was floating in mid-air with her two eyes glowing bright red. This head once again gave that shrieking noise which brought shivers down their spines. In an instant the two girls turned around and dashed for their lives.

"This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening." Ino chanted like a broken tape recorder.

Sakura turned her head around in fear only to find that the head was in hot pursuit of them.

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She shouted in absolute devastation. "It's chasing us. RUUUN!"

"This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not happening. SOMEONE SAVE US!" Those were Ino's last words that were heard far away by two men walking slowly through the woods.

Saia and Lee were two individuals who were almost identical to their past counterparts, at least as far as appearance was concerned. Lee had followed the footsteps of his sensei and become a Jounin instructor. Sai on the other hand had become a researcher given his rational and calm demeanour. He worked mostly at laboratories performing scientific investigations. This is perhaps what he enjoyed doing most; discovering new and untold secrets that nature had to offer.

"Sakura-san and Ino-san." Sai said with an alarmed look on his otherwise emotionless face. "It seems an event has transpired."

"Yes I could certainly hear their heartfelt cries of joy." Lee replied with glitter in his eyes.

"It seemed more of a cry of distress to me….."

"I wonder what it could be. I'd sure like to join in on the action." Lee pumped his fist in the air.

"You certainly are an interesting personality, aren't you?" Sai asked with curiosity in his statement.

"You flatter me too much my fellow comrade." Lee scratched his head. "My soul is constantly ignited with the flames of youth."

"Talking about souls, I found the concept Naruto-kun described earlier quite interesting."

"You mean ghosts?" Lee asked with a somewhat perplexed look. "Are you into that sort of thing?"

"I don't really understand why everyone seemed so phased out by the concept. I read about them in a book some time ago and it seems ghosts are nothing but irrational fears taken form in the human psyche."

"I see, that is certainly one way to explain it. You are very insightful, Sai-kun." Lee complimented.

"Why thank you, but I have never seen one such thing in reality, so I wouldn't know."

"Well I believe you may be looking at one right now." Lee said pointing at an inexplicable dark figure behind them that gave a deafening growl. "He certainly seems energetic."

"Indeed that seems to be quite the quite the specimen. Let's capture it." Sai stated bluntly.

At his statement both Lee and the dark figure flinched.

"Haah?" That was the only sound Lee could let out.

"I mean this is the first time I'm seeing a ghost. My interest has piqued. I'd like to be able to take it into my lab and run experiments to unveil the true nature of ghosts. Perhaps then they wouldn't be so much of a mystery to humans."

"I suppose…." Lee sweat-dropped.

At their statements the figure took a 180 turn and started to make a dash for freedom.

"It seems our subject is escaping. Let us give chase Lee-kun."

"Ghost-san, don't run away." Lee shouted. "We only want to be friends."

The figure gave another roar, but this time in self-defence and one that could be heard all the way across the compound.

"I wonder what that was." Yuhi questioned looking at the person next to her.

"There has been an awful lot of racket going on tonight. Those guys better not be messing with my compound." Sasuke grinded his teeth in annoyance. "Either way there seems to be nothing here so let's move on."

"Nothing." Yuhi repeated with a downcast look.

"This is why shadow clones are dumb." Sasuke replied. As the two walked through the hallway they reached a familiar place.

"It's the room I stayed in." Yuhi stated, regaining her interest somewhat once again.

At her statement Sasuke flinched. His room was right behind where they were standing.

"He better not have gone in there." Sasuke shouted in an aggravated voice. To be honest it was not really shouting compared to others but in comparison to his generally calm and collected manner, he has definitely flustered.

At that moment a creaking noise of the door behind them closing could he heard. In an instant Sasuke did a complete u-turn and opened the door with so much force that it completely came off its hinges.

"NOW BURN!" He roared loudly activating his Mangekyou Sharingan and igniting the perpetrator on fire, or so he thought. "Burn in the inextinguishable black flames. No one will even know the secrets this room holds."

"Muhahahahahahaha!" He laughed like a maniac.

"Ano-your room is on fire." Yuhi pointed out lifting her finger at Sasuke's belongings, or whatever was left of it.

"NOOOOOOO!" My limited edition Lucky Star bedsheet and my tailor made K-ON pillow. Above all my ultra rare lifesize shiny Charizard plushie. They are all turning into ash in front of my eyes." Sasuke cried in despair as he ran towards the burning site trying to find a way to salvage something, anything.

"We need water NOW." He exclaimed turning around and staring to dash out of the room. "Wait no I need to turn it off with my eyes."

As he realised what needed to be done, he once again looked at the fire calming it down in an instant. But only a pile of ash remained where his bed and belongings previously resided. Seeing the mess that remained, Sasuke dropped down to his knees in agony.

"Its over; its all over. Everything's burned down." Even though all was lost, something still felt weird. "It still feels like something is burning."

"That's because YOU'RE on fire." Yuhi yelled at the top of her lungs not knowing what to do. At her words Sasuke finally realized that the back of his shirt was on fire.

"I can't look at it!" No matter how much he tried he couldn't turn his head around enough to put off the fire. So he started running around in circles like a headless chicken not knowing what to do.

"No choice but to apply the basic technique-STOP, DROP and ROLL. STOP, DROP and ROLL." He rolled around on the floor but to no avail.

"Get out of that shirt." Yuhi's words snapped Sasuke out of his daze.

"That's it, you're a genius." He commended her, taking off his shirt and throwing it to the ground to finally put off the flame.

"That was scary." Yuhi sighed a breath of relief. But Sasuke had a different look on his face; one of a psychopath.

"NA-RU-TOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "Just you wait. I'll get you for this."

Sasuke did not waste any time and ran out of the door to find his arch rival. Yuhi didn't have any time to respond and ran after Sasuke.

Elsewhere Kiba and Shino were walking alongside each other with Akamaru right behind them. The dog had grown even bigger and was now the size of a tiger. Kiba himself had grown similarly to his dog and looked more menacing and handsome than before. On the other hand, how much Shino changed was a mystery to everyone as he still covered himself from head to toe when he was in the company of others.

"What is going on with all this shouting?" Kiba asked his partner while scratching his head. Akamaru barked at his master's question.

"It is most certainly peculiar." Shino noted. "But we must not be diverted away from our mission objective."

"Yeah don't worry dawg; we got this." Kiba reassured confidently. "But first I gotta answer nature's call."

"Make it quick." Shino stated curtly.

"Hai hai." Kiba waved his hand in the air as he went into the woods nearby. He located a bush and walked over to take a leak. As he opened his zipper and started to empty his bladder, a large dark animal shaped figure began to take form in front of him.

Kiba who was too busy relieving himself finally noticed the existence of the hostile being in front of him when his dog next to him started barking aggressively.

"What's the matter Aka-" He stopped his question midway as he gazed upon the dark animal-like being with red glowing eyes. "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?"

Before any reply could be given or any thoughts formulated, the creature gave a deafening roar that almost uprooted the nearby trees. Both Kiba and Akamaru wanted nothing to do with it and started running the opposite way. As they jumped out of the woods they saw Shino standing there with his expression veiled by his mask and sunglasses.

"What was that noise? Is something wrong?" He asked as the other two whisked past him.

"Don't talk, just run." That was all that was left behind Kiba's trail. But it didn't take long for Shino to realise what Kiba meant as he was faced with a menacing creature twice his size. Before long Shino was also running and had caught up with his teammate.

"What is that thing?" Shino asked with a slight hint of expression between his breaths.

"I have no friggin clue and I sure as heck don't want to find out."

"I agree but can you stop urinating already and put away your junk. It's awkward." Shino said with force behind his voice, which was unlike him.

"Dude I can't stop going once I've started going. That takes years of training." Kiba answered deploringly.

"Well then at least stop spraying it in my direction." Shino added.

"I can't control the direction it flies off in. Who do you think I am, Aquaman?" Kiba asked sarcastically. "It doesn't even matter anyway. We've got a bigger problem behind our back."

The creature behind them gave another deafening roar.

"STOP CHASING US!" Kiba yelled without looking back, hoping to get away.

Elsewhere Neji and Tenten were walking next to one of the boundaries of the compound. Neji had a tight grip of Tenten's right hand, like a child who was afraid of getting lost in a crowd.

"There it is again." He cried. "This time it's Kiba and its very close by. One by one the ghosts are eating them all. I'm sure we're next to be eaten. Let's get out of here while we still can."

Neji tried to jump over the brick wall that served as the boundary to the Uchiha compound only to be held back by his collar.

"Don't you dare try to run away mister." Tenten scolded. "We have a headband to find."

At the moment she saw something shiny in one of the branches of a faraway tree. Focusing her vision while taking a few steps forward confirmed her suspicion; it was definitely Naruto's headband.

"Neji there it is!" She jumped in joy pointing at the object of affection." Let's run for it. Both Neji and Tenten picked up their pace only to be met by a very flustered Sakura and Ino halfway to their targeted tree.

"Is it still chasing us?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know…..hey its Tenten." Ino looked over at the other two. "What are you two running for?"

At that moment Sakura's eyes fell on the headband on the tree. "They are after that." She said pointing at the headband on tree branch.

"Crap they found out." Tenten grimaced. "We can't lose."

"Indeed my fellow teammate. A loss would be unacceptable." Lee declared as enthusiastically as ever as he overtook the rest.

"It is unfortunate that ghost-san managed to escape us, but for the time being I shall capture the headband." Sai said with a somewhat downcast tone as he flew past on a black and white bird.

"Shikamaru there it is; the headband." Chouji said as he ran at breakneck speed and got right behind Lee's trail. Shikamaru though was lagging somewhat behind, only managing to catch up to Tenten and Sakura's group.

"What the heck? How are we getting outsped by Chouji?" Tenten asked in disbelief.

"When things get hectic, that guy can perform miracles." Ino answered with vigour even though she was losing.

"What's so wrong with being outsped by me?" Chouji asked back from the frontlines.

"Don't mind her pal, focus on the headband." Shikamaru gave a few words of encouragement.

"If it's about speed then we got this in the bag." Kiba smirked from behind everyone as he jumped on top of his giant dog. "Let's show them what true speed is like."

Akamaru gave a loud howl and within seconds flew past everyone like a bullet. Everyone else could only look at awe at the sheer pace that the dog was moving at.

"The headband; it seems they have located it and are going for it right now." Sasuke gave an overview of the situation as he was standing at a distance from which one could barely make out the figures of the others, but he had changed his view into a telescopic one using his Sharingan.

"Oh no they found the headband!" Yuhi exclaimed in a disheartened tone.

"Unfortunately we are too far behind. Even if we ran now we wouldn't make it without using any jutsus." Sasuke replied bluntly even though the situation was not in their favour.

"I know; throw me." Yuhi suggested something quite ridiculous.

"Say what?" Sasuke could only question the little girl's crazy statement.

"Daddy said you are just as strong as him, so if you throw me from here with all your strength, I could make it to the tree in no time."

"But that's insane, and not to mention dangerous."

"It's okay; I do it all the time with daddy. He can even throw me across Konoha in less than a minute."

"Bu-" Sasuke tried to finish his sentence before he was interrupted.

"No buts. Just throw me or else we'll lose." Yuhi desperately pleaded.

"Fine." Sasuke finally gave in and held Yuhi's right hand. "Make sure to stop yourself with a jutsu if you are flying too fast. This contest is not as important as your wellbeing."

Yuhi nodded with a smile. Sasuke spun Yuhi around two times by her right hand and flung her using all his strength and angular momentum he had acquired during the spins. With Sasuke's indescribable power she flew like a meteor towards the tree and covered the entire distance in almost an instant. But as she was about to reach out and grab the headband on the branch, her parents appeared out of nowhere from the woods nearby.

"Naruto-kun, you can't run forever." Hinata said as she refused to give up chase on Naruto. The two had run all the way around the compound following their earlier incident, and neither noticed the people that were reaching towards them.

"Forgive me. I'll behave. I promise I'll behave." Naruto apologized in between his breaths.

"I'll teach you how to act like a hokage." With her final words Hinata lunged at Naruto and grabbed on to him. The sudden impact caused Naruto to trip over some object on the ground and the two crashed against a nearby tree.

For a split second Naruto was in a daze since he hit his head against the tree trunk, but was snapped out by the feeling of a metal hitting his head. In frustration he picked up the object that hit his already injured head, but upon closer inspection it was none other than his own headband. The previous collision had caused the headband to fall down from the tree on to Naruto.

"Hey look Hinata-chan, it's my headband. I don't know how I got it but it seems we've won." Naruto rejoiced as he hugged Hinata tightly in his arms.

In response Hinata blushed slightly when she noticed everyone staring at the two, but soon regained her composure. Needless to say, this future version of Hinata did not suffer from the same problems as her younger self when she was around Naruto.

"I guess that's true." She smiled back as Naruto's happiness had a contagious effect.

"Mommy, Daddy." Yuhi called out loudly as she jumped down from the top of the tree to land on Naruto's lap. "That's no fair. You got the headband just as I was about to get it."

"Aww, is that so?" Naruto expression saddened as he saw the frown on his daughter's face. "But how about this; since I won, as my prize I'll give you anything you want okay?"

"Really?" Yuhi's face brightened up in an instant as she embraced her father tightly. "You are awesome."

"Now Naruto-kun, you can't go spoiling her like that." Hinata contravened turning away from the two. "Not to mention, isn't that what you normally do for her anyway?"

"Mommy…." Yuhi looked down once again. She knew that whatever her mother said went without question.

"Aww Hinata-chan, can't we just give Yuhi-chan what she wants just this once?" Naruto pleaded in a distraught tone.

"That's what you always say." Hinata whispered silently to herself as she looked at her husband and daughter from the corner of her eyes. "Fine, just this time though."

"You heard that Yuhi-chan, isn't that great?" Naruto threw his daughter up in the air to rejoice.

"Yay. Thank you daddy. You are the best." Yuhi complimented her father as always.

"You look like the bad guy now." Ino said to Hinata as she walked beside her.

"Like father like daughter in this case." Tenten joked.

"I guess you two are right." Hinata replied with a smile as she looked on to Naruto and Yuhi rejoicing together. The two indeed did have much in common beyond just looks.

"It's a great sight to behold, but I still wonder what that thing chasing after us was." Chouji questioned scratching his head.

"Wait you mean you had a dark looking thing chase after you too?" Ino asked right back.

"Yes we also had a shadow creature in pursuit of us." Shino added.

"Same here. Although we were the ones to give it chase." Lee said with his usual upbeat tone.

"So everyone's been bothered by those huh?" Hinata asked with a sigh. "Those were the reason I was chasing after Naruto-kun; to dispel them essentially. That was the whole setup of this contest; to scare everyone and laugh at their reactions. In fact it was all just an elaborate prank using the highly advanced shadow close jutsu he developed."

"Hi-Hinata-sama, y-you mean i-it was all just….." Neji couldn't finish his sentence in his astonishment.

"I'm sorry to say that it was all just a setup by Naruto-kun." Hinata replied knowing what her cousin was thinking.

"M-My eternal apologies to you Hinata-sama and I know you probably won't ever forgive me for this, but you may become a widow tonight." Neji had fire in his eyes. "I will tear Naruto apart piece by piece."

"And I will make sure to crush those pieces until there is nothing left." The veins in Sakura's forehead started to pop out.

"I don't think finishing him off so easily would do him justice." Ino added in a dark tone. "Some of these poisonous flowers just might do the trick."

"I don't quite get the hostility, but it seems Naruto was the ghost all along." Sai felt he had made a breakthrough discovery. "So I hope to take whatever remains are left over for experimentation even if it is atomic in size."

"Oh snap." Naruto had a petrified expression on his face. "Hinata-chan, are you trying to get me killed?"

"I guess you had it coming." Hinata replied in a calm and composed tone.

Lighting sparks coursed through the ground as an angry Uchiha made his way towards Naruto. The look on Sasuke's face at that moment would give even the Boogieman nightmares.

"Naruto, I will make you suffer the losses you have made me suffer tonight." Sasuke said in his cold tone that could send chills down people's spines.

"Okay, I'm gone." Within seconds Naruto leaped over the nearest boundary and ran for his life.

"Don't let him escape." Neji ordered to the rest as he gave chase.

"NARUTOOOOOOOO!" Sakura shouted in an unwomanly voice. "Get back here."

"Running is futile Naruto-kun." Sai added. "Won't you be caught for science?"

"Stay away from me, all of you. I'm your hokage. This could be classified as high treason." He tried his best to stop the assailants.

"Do you think we care?" Kiba growled as he started to close the gap between himself and Naruto.

"There is no escape." With his last words Sasuke overtook the rest and almost reached touching distance to Naruto.

"It's a coup d'état I tell you. IT'S A COUP." Naruto's scream reverberated through the streets of Konoha which woke up many of the villagers.

Unfortunately for the villagers, this type of scenario was all too familiar. Naruto would play some kind of ridiculous prank on his friends and end up getting chased around the village. Even though it was midnight, for Naruto and his friends the night was still young. The memory ended with that final moment.

* * *

Glad you made it to the end :)

Firstly I guess I'd like to apologise to my extremely long absence. Its not because I didn't want to write or gave up on my story, but because 3rd year Physics at uni has been insanely hectic. I've been solving problem papers and writing long reports for practical sessions non-stop. So unfortunately, as much as I wanted to write more of this story, I couldn't. That said since I'm on break now, I will be able to write a few chapters before next term begins in a couple of weeks. Also next term has a slightly lighter timetable and I've also just bought myself a netbook to carry around with me which should allow for me to write during my journey to and from uni, or if I've got some time off there. We shall see. But rest assured I have no intentions of quitting this story.

I just wanted to quickly point out about what happened in the last manga chapter without any spoilers (hopefully), but maybe you may still want to skip the next line if you aren't up to date with the manga (only read at your own risk, you've been warned):

That last chapter almost gave me a friggin heart attack. Hinata is crazy for Naruto as always. And Neji...


	14. Like mother like daughter

**Like Mother Like Daughter**

A new chapter within a week of the previous one. I feel like I'm on a roll.

So I was looking through the comments a while back and saw THE **Dreaded Rasengan** left a review. I have been faboying it out ever since then since his fic **Father to a blond Hyuga **was one of the main inspirations for this story. I didn't know how I wanted to reply to his comment, so I decided to make a small homage to a part of his fic that I found hilarious in this chapter. For those of you who read the his fic (and if you haven't, what are you still waiting for lol?), my challenge to you is to find the reference to his story in this chapter. I hope you have fun reading.

* * *

"Wow; we saw a lot, didn't we?" The present Ino asked the rest of the group who all had different levels of surprised looks on their faces.

"Sasuke…..where do we begin?" Naruto asked with a sly smile.

"Don't even dare begin anywhere.…" Sasuke was looking down with his face hidden behind his bangs, but one could tell his expression was extremely dark.

"But Sasuke-kun, I didn't know you had such a kind side to you, and you were good at cooking." Sakura fidgeted around it place like a teenage girl.

"Yeah, and he's also a closet otaku." Naruto grinned mischievously. "Who the heck has a Charizard plushie?"

"Hey, I had a Jigglypuff one when I was 5 probably." Sakura argued fiercely.

"Yeah and you still scream like a little girl. That scene with you running away from that flying head thingy was priceless. Who knew an amazon woman like you could be scared of such a thing?" Naruto rolled around on the floor laughing.

"NA-RU-TO!" The present Sakura had the same kind of expression as her future counterpart just a moment ago. "PREPARE TO BE CRUSHED!"

"Naruto….let me make this quick and painless for you." Present Sasuke said in the same cold tone as his future counterpart, as both he and Sakura jumped onto Naruto.

"Aaaah-it's a coup I tell you, it's a coup." Naruto screamed just like his future self as the three ran around the mindspace.

"Isn't this scene somewhat familiar?" Kiba asked. "Why are they being so childish?"

"Says the person who flashes his privates." Sai added.

"I didn't flash anything on purpose." Kiba replied in an aggravated tone.

"I used to make fun of Naruto's just to see his reaction, but now I feel bad as though I've picked on a handicapped for being disabled." Sai said in his usual emotionless tone.

"Says the mad scientist guy who tries to catch a ghost." Kiba fired back in retaliation, as the skirmish continued.

"Hey, hey calm down you two." Shikamaru tried to interject only to be caught up in the crossfire.

"And you; I thought you were meant to be the great strategist, the shadow master. All you did was run away like a little sissy." Kiba took a jab at the pacifier.

"Hey; I was just trying to stop the argument." Shikamaru wasn't about to lose his cool, but felt somewhat insulted. "And look who's talking anyway. If I remember correctly, you legged it as soon as you saw the situation heading south."

"Wow; somehow Shikamaru has also gotten involved." Chouji stood there scratching his head to see his otherwise calm and collected friend get flustered.

"Indeed it is quite surprising." Lee commented from beside Chouji. "Oh; congratulations to you my comrades for getting married."

Neji and Tenten were standing with their backs to each other for this whole time, only to jump up in their position as soon as Lee mentioned their names. Luckily for them, most of the others seemed to be involved in some kind of argument or another to notice.

"Ah…yea; thanks Lee." Tenten barely managed to get a word out from her embarrassment.

"But I was quite surprised to see you have a dislike towards cats Neji." Lee wondered without any malicious intent. "I suppose I have much to learn about my team mates."

Tenten finally found her opportunity to break the awkward situation.

"He's just a fraidy cat himself." Tenten mocked Neji.

"And I'm surprised that you turned out to be the crazy dominating type of woman." Neji replied back angrily at her comment. "My future self must have had a few screws lose in his brain to marry a woman like you. Wait; scratch that last bit about you being a woman, since you don't even have any womanly charm."

"How dare you…." Tenten was boiling with rage as the argument was about to escalate.

"Is this perhaps what is referred to as marital discord?" Lee asked himself.

"What's going on mommy?" Yuhi asked Hinata looking at the chaos that was ensuing in front of her.

"I don't t-think you want to know." That was all Hinata could manage to say as she didn't want to be any part of this.

"Everyone calm down." Ino tried to stop the madness that was going on, but her words went to deaf ears. "I said calm down."

Hinata took this opportunity to walk up to Ino, with Yuhi in her trail.

"I-Ino-san…I think i-it might be a g-good idea if you started the n-next memory." She suggested.

"That's right; good thinking Hinata. I'll make this one that you will enjoy watching." Ino winked at Hinata.

"_I hope it's nothing too outlandish. I do like to see my intimacy with Naruto-kun, but I don't know if I can handle all of it yet, and in front of everyone at that." Hinata thought as she blushed thinking about all the Naru-Hina moments she had seen._

"Oh this is perfect." Ino's face flashed with brilliance. "Let it rip."

Within an instant the surroundings around them changed and all the arguments came to a grinding halt as everyone paid attention to the new scenario in front of them.

It had been a long day for future Hinata. It was in fact one of those days that dragged on and on endlessly where she had to go through an entire pile of paperwork. Hinata herself didn't really know what to make out of her current state as the head of the Hyuuga clan. It wasn't that she couldn't handle the diplomacy and whatnot, but all of this seemed a bit farfetched to her. When she was younger she only dreamed of being able to have a family with Naruto, but she never thought about the nitty gritty details. This was of course the reality of her life, and although she didn't particularly have much affinity towards the position of clan head, it certainly wasn't something she hated. In fact when she thought about it, just being able to work towards bringing peace and goodwill amongst the people of the clan was more than enough to warrant going through the boring aspects of her job. Hence she ultimately liked her position as clan head. Not to mention of course that her true dream of being with Naruto was fulfilled, so everything else seemed like minute detail in the backdrop of her life. Thinking such thoughts and being thankful for everything she had in life, Hinata closed the final folder having finished her work for the day. She unfolded her legs under the kotatsu and stretched all of her limbs in joy for finally having finished the week. So now she had an entire weekend to look forward to where she could spend time with her loved ones.

With those wonderful thoughts Hinata got up from her position and started walking towards Hiashi's room where her daughter was currently situated. It seemed like there was quite a ruckus coming from her father's room, which was unlike him. With her curiosity piqued, Hinata knocked on the door twice.

"Father I'm coming in." Hinata informed in a gentle tone before sliding the door open. Within an instant a flood of big bright red balls flowed out of the door and overwhelmed Hinata, drowning her completely.

"Onee-chan, are you okay? Onee-chan?" Hanabi called out to Hinata while digging through the pile of red balls. After removing a large number of balls she found Hinata sprawled out on the ground with whirls in her eyes. "Come on, let's get you up."

"What is going on here?" Hinata asked while rubbing her head.

"Oh not much daughter. Your sister, I and little Yuhi went out for a walk in the shopping district today. We came across this children's accessory store where they had one of these balls on display. My dear granddaughter seemed to show some form of affinity towards the red ball, so being a responsible grandfather I bought their entire supply of red balls of course." Hiashi explained while Yuhi was happily swimming through the sea of red balls inside the room, too busy to take part in the ongoing conversation.

"That's called being IRRESPONSIBLE father." Hinata stated rather fiercely.

"Why? If I were to phrase it as some of the commoners do: we got monaay."

"It doesn't matter. You can't just go buy her whatever she wants, and 100 times at that. You'll end up spoiling her."

"I told you it wasn't such a great idea." Hanabi stated with a sly smile.

"I don't quite remember you making the same statement before." Hiashi said with a neutral expression. "Weren't you the one who claimed it was a great idea and we should buy everything red the store has to offer?"

"HANABI!" Hinata gasped. "I thought at least you would be sensible."

"Sorry sis, but Yuhi's too cute to resist. I just want to give her everything she wants."

"Well keep this up and I'll be taking her off your care permanently." Hinata threatened seriously.

"Noooo….agggghhhahh." Hiashi grabbed his chest tightly as he dropped to his knees. "Hanabi, if I am to meet my demise now let the world know that it was none other than your sister who blackmailed and threatened me to death through the most underhanded means."

"Yes otou-san, I shall let the authorities know. Although I feel that onee-san may have large political backing behind such assassination attempts. Naruto-san being the head of authority surely would not allow such a scandal to take place with regards to his partner in crime. I'm afraid even my voice may become silenced in the aftermath of repudiation against such bureaucracy."

"Such a deplorable world we live in." Hiashi sobbed tears of despair as he reached out to hold Hanabi's hand while on the ground. "But you must let the world know of this manifest evil, where an old man is ruthlessly separated from his grandaughter."

"Indeed I shall fight to enjoin good and condemn evil." Hanabi pumped her chest several times its normal size. "We shall as they say, burn the witch."

"Stop trying to make me sound like some kind of wicked politician!" A flustered Hinata cut off the conversation between her father and sister before the matter escalated any further. "Fine I won't take her off you care."

"Uh, what's this? My chest feels light all of a sudden. I feel all better now." Hiashi stood up once again.

"But only if you control yourselves. We need to give her a proper upbringing." Hinata urged her family members while looking at Yuhi.

"That is indeed something I can agree on." Hiashi nodded. "Fine, from now on I shall apply moderation."

"I'm glad." Hinata gave her father one of her trademark gentle smiles. "And thank you for looking out for her."

"T-there's no reason to thank me." Hiashi stuttered from his daughter's charm. "It is more of a privilege for me to be able to play a part in her upbringing." He may have made mistakes during his elder daughter's upbringing, but he would not repeat the same mistakes again.

"I'll make sure otou-san doesn't go overboard." Hanabi added.

"Just make sure YOU don't go overboard." Hinata replied with a frown. "Anyway we need to be going."

"I shall see you next week then." Hiashi made his final remark.

"Yuhi." Hinata called out. "We need to be going now."

At her mother's words, Yuhi quickly jumped out of her swimming pool of red balls and came running to her mother.

"Okay let's go." Yuhi replied obediently as she exchanged goodbyes with her grandfather and aunt.

It had just been nightfall as the two left the compound. As always, Hinata expended her pinkie finger which her daughter held tightly with her palm. The duo started walking through the busy business district of Konoha, which was illuminated by glowing lights of all colours from different shops and bustling with the noise from all the chattering of people everywhere. As Hinata and Yuhi walked through the streets, people would often turn to greet them and make small talk. Such discourse had become a norm for the two as they were the only known family members of the hokage.

"Are we going to daddy now?" Yuhi asked looking up to her mother.

"Not today dear. Your daddy is in a meeting with some visitors. We can't bother him." Hinata explained.

Yuhi's face instantly dropped at not being to see her father as soon as possible.

"Come on now, not need for that long face." Hinata consoled her daughter. "Since your father is going to be late coming back home anyway, how about we go have some fun in the park?

"Yes let's go." Yuhi jumped in joy a few times as she beamed with excitement.

As the two walked towards the park, Hinata saw something that piqued her interest. It was none other than a taiyaki stand.

"Yuhi, want to eat you some taiyaki with mommy?" Hinata asked with a smile.

"Yes I love taiyaki." Yuhi replied with great enthusiasm.

Hinata walked up to the taiyaki stand which was being operated by an old man, who instantly recognised the two and gave them a heartfelt smile.

"If it isn't Hinata-hime and Yuhi-oujo. I'm glad to see you both. Would you be interested in this humble man's taiyaki?"

"Indeed that was the hope. If you would be so kind, could you give us a packet of the usual?" Hinata requested.

"Of course Hinata-hime. Please consider this one on the house."

"No; I can't accept that." Hinata kindly rejected the offer.

"Please hime, it would be an honour for me just to be able to serve you two. Hokage-sama has done so much for us."

"If you insist on this then I'm afraid we can no longer be patrons at your store." Hinata said sadly.

"Okay, okay I understand, but have some extra on the house though, for me." The old man pleaded as he handed Hinata a brown bag stacked with taiyaki.

"I understand. Then keep the change." Hinata brought out her purse which weighed so much that it would put Naruto's gama pouch to shame. She picked out a note and handed it to the store owner.

"But this is 4 times more…"

"I'll take the extra, while you keep the change. Sounds fair to me." Hinata cut in softly with a smile. "We hope to visit again in the future."

"Arigatou ojii-san." Yuhi showed her appreciation as well.

"Take care Hinata-hime, Yuhi-oujo." The man waved the two goodbye.

Hinata and Yuhi walked a little distance and exited the business district. Soon they reached a park which was unusually occupied even after nightfall, as many people sat around talking or children played games together. It was after all going to be weekend and everyone came here to relax a bit. Hinata located a fresh patch of grass in a relatively empty area and took a seat with Yuhi.

"It's quite a lovely night isn't it Yuhi?" Hinata asked her daughter pointing upwards. "The stars are shining magnificently tonight."

"Waaa…it's beautiful." Yuhi's face brightened up as she looked up at the clear sky, which was filled with almost a countless number of stars. "Look at that one mommy; it's so bright."

"Let's see. Ah yes, that's the brightest star in the night sky, known as the dog star, or otherwise called Sirius." Hinata pointed out.

"Can I go there?" Yuhi asked a question that made Hinata laugh slightly, at which Yuhi pouted. "Uuuuuu…what's so funny? I just want to see it up close."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh." Hinata apologised. "Do you know what travels the fastest?"

"LIGHT!" Yuhi shouted out in response.

"Oh wow, good girl. Did grandpa teach you that?"

"No it was daddy." Yuhi shook her head side to side. "He said light moves the fastest and we move very slowly compared to light."

"Naruto-kun did?" Hinata was somewhat amazed as Naruto mostly oversaw Yuhi's ninja training, while Hinata and Hiashi took care of her studies. "Anyway to get back to your question, it takes light about 9 years to get to Sirius, so you can imagine, us getting there wouldn't exactly be possible in our lifetime."

"Awww…." Yuhi looked dejected.

"Hey, I didn't mean to crush your dreams dear." Hinata felt bad at seeing her daughter's hopes being shattered and felt guilty. "But we know quite a bit about that star already. For example if you were to get close to it, it's actually 25 times brighter than our sun."

"25 TIMES?" Yuhi gasped in shock. "That's very bright. But you said that we can't go to it, then how did you know this?"

"That's a good question, but unfortunately it has a complicated answer. There are these things called telescopes, which when combined with a lot of very difficult maths can allow us to find out details about objects that are very far away. Not even I know too much about the topic, but if you were interested, you could ask Sai-san. Although I doubt you'd understand much of what he says right now."

"But I want to know more." Yuhi seemed compelled by the matter.

"In due time dear; all in due time." Hinata patted her daughter on the head. "I'm glad that you're interested in learning more, but there is a sequence to everything. Make sure you study hard now so that when you grow up you'll be able to learn all sorts of interesting things."

"Okay." Yuhi nodded having acknowledged the wisdom that her mother bestowed upon her.

"That's my little princess." Hinata pinched both Yuhi's cheeks softly at the same time playfully. "Still it's such a lovely night. The sky is filled with stars, the moon is full and the breeze is so calm and gentle. I wish your father was here with us."

"Wow; so you miss daddy as well mommy?" Yuhi asked looking directly at her mother.

"Of course I do. Although it may not look like it since we are better at controlling our emotions as adults, but both me and your daddy miss each other when we are away. And it also makes us happy when we get back together at the end of the day."

"So we're all the same."

"Indeed we are dear, since all of us are family after all." Hinata finally noticed the brown bag that was in front of her for quite a while now. "Oh no the taiyaki is going get cold. How about we eat it while it's still fresh?"

Hinata picked out one of the fish shaped snacks and handed it out to Yuhi. She herself took a bite of one of the taiyakis herself. In an instant the sweetness from the red bean paste lighted up her taste buds. The combination of the sweetness and the warmth made up an amazing harmony that could rarely ever be matched. Hinata savoured the taste as she took a second bite. After a few seconds, as the euphoria faded away, she looked up at her daughter only to find she was dripping red bean paste all over her white dress.

"Ah moo Yuhi stop, stop. You're ruining your clothes." Hinata quickly put her right hand below Yuhi's chin to stop any more drops of paste from dripping down on her clothes. She took out a tissue and started wiping away the paste that was stuck to her clothes and face. "I hope this doesn't leave a stain. I thought you were old enough to eat taiyaki on your own Yuhi, but it seems I was wrong. Look at the mess you've made to your face and clothes."

"But this is so tasty." Yuhi replied feeling somewhat guilty tone.

"I know it's tasty, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful. I guess I'll have to go over your eating manners again properly before you can eat these by yourself."

"Does that mean I can't eat taiyaki anymore?" Yuhi's eyes were starting to become watery.

"No, no of course not." Hinata was quick to reconcile. "I just meant I'll help you eat, so don't cry honey. We all make mistakes, but what's important is that we learn from them. Remember that okay."

"I will." Yuhi nodded and made sure to make a note of what her mother said in her brain.

"Come here." Hinata called Yuhi to sit on her lap. Yuhi leaned her back against her mother's chest so that they were facing the same direction and stretched her legs. "Is this a good position for you?"

"YES!" Yuhi pushed herself even further back against her mother's body. "You're so warm and soft. I love it."

"You too Yuhi; I really like to have you close to me as well." Hinata hugged her daughter tightly in response. "Because you're a part of me after all."

Hinata and Yuhi sat in the park for a long time enjoying the beautiful night view and eating the taiyaki they bought. Eventually it was almost time for Naruto to return home, so the two decided to head back home to welcome him. Once they returned Hinata started to cook Naruto's favourite dish for the night as Yuhi watched her closely. As the dish was halfway done, the main entrance to the house could be heard opening. Yuhi instantly jumped off the countertop to go greet her father.

"Daddy!" Yuhi shouted as she ran and jumped on to Naruto.

"How have you been today?" Naruto asked with a wry smile.

"Today was great. Grandpa bought me these red balls to play with and mommy bought me taiyaki on the way home." Yuhi told enthusiastically.

"Is that so? That's great for you Yuhi-chan." Naruto said as he took off his hokage coat and hat.

"Let's go do some training. Show me that awesome new jutsu you said you'll show me last time." Yuhi strafed around her father in excitement.

"I'll show you some other time honey. Daddy's a bit tired today, so I'll be going to bed now." Naruto patted his daughter on the head, who had a very disheartened look on her face.

"Aww…but I was looking forward to it all day." Yuhi looked down in disappointment.

"Now Yuhi, daddy's had a long day today, so he needs rest. You can spend time with him through the whole weekend." Hinata divulged as she walked out of the living room to join the others. "And Naruto-kun, dinner's almost ready. I made your favourite."

"Sorry Hinata-chan; I should have sent a message earlier, but I had dinner with the affiliates I was with today." Naruto replied as he took off his shoes.

"Oh no that's okay." Hinata shook her head side to side. "You look really tired, so get a good long night's sleep."

"Thanks and good night you two." Naruto waved his hand in the air as he walked upstairs to his room.

"But daddy didn't even eat dinner with us, and he didn't show me that technique. This sucks." She was still upset.

"Come on now Yuhi, don't act like that." Hinata chided. "Remember, good things come to those who are patient. Think of it like training."

"Oooo….I understand." Yuhi made her hands into fists and assumed a determined posture. "I'll be patient and become very strong like mommy and daddy."

"That's my girl." Hinata complimented. "Since you have shown such great determination, how about I show you the technique your father wanted to show you?"

"You will?" Yuhi asked in amazement.

"Of course; since it's one your father taught me as well a long time ago."

"Yay, yay, let's go, let's go."

"But first dinner." Hinata reminded her daughter.

"I'm hungry too." Yuhi agreed.

Once the preparation for dinner was finished, Hinata and Yuhi sat together and ate as they talked about all sorts of different topics ranging from training to cooking. Once they finished, as promised they stepped out into the back garden where Hinata showed Yuhi the double rasengan. Since Yuhi could already make one rasengan and as she had already seen the double rasengan in action a while back during the succession battle between Hinata and Hiashi, explaining the technique was a lot easier than it would have been without the prerequisites. Hinata gave pointers as to what conditions needed to be fulfilled to keep the jutsu stable and gave the basic steps to start learning the technique. Yuhi being enthusiastic about the matter listened closely to her mother and noted everything she said. It was definitely going to take her a while before she could master this very highly advanced technique.

The two stayed up relatively late when compared to week nights. Having overseen Yuhi's training for a while, Hinata finally decided it was time for Yuhi to be put to bed. So she performed the usual routine of picking out a story book of Yuhi's choice and reading it until she fell asleep. Once Yuhi had finally fallen asleep, Hinata went to do a final check to see everything was locked and well for the night. Once done, she brushed her teeth and hair for a bit before finally crawling into bed herself. Long and tiring days such as these were a norm to Hinata, but she enjoyed being able to do her best for her family and fulfilled all of her responsibilities diligently.

Naruto, who was already in bed by the time she got there was now fast asleep. Hinata watched and savoured the view of Naruto's sleeping face as she herself dozed off to deep sleep. But little did Hinata or Yuhi know what Naruto had in store for them the next day.

To be continued...

* * *

So there you have it. I felt as though I have focused quite a bit on Naruto and Yuhi's relationship, so a chapter dedicated to exploring Hinata and Yuhi's relationship was in order. I wanted to write a bit more in detail about a mother and daughter's relationship, but unfortunately there is only so much I know because I'm male and also an only child. But I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Also I wanted to reply to a few of your comments in this chapter. So lets start with none other than:

**Dreaded Rasengan: **I don't know how you managed to find this fic, but thanks a lot for reading and for the kind comments you've left. Your writing has been nothing short of inspiration as I mentioned before. I think you will have instantly recognised the part I was referring to in this chapter from your fic lol. Also, I really hope your last comment is true and NaruHina is indeed canonized (if thats even a word?). Seems to be the case logically, but not a lot of things follow logic in anime...

**Hektols:** And the toll of the big name writers continues to increase. This time it is none other than the great Hektols. I have been reading all your comments and am very thankful for your feedback. I try to take them to heart in making the story even better, and I hope you will continue reading and reviewing as you have been doing :)

But its not just about being big. Here's some of you who have also left awesome comments in their own right:

**TheLoverOfMusic: **I read your comments on all the chapters and they were all very sweet. Thanks for reading and its comments like yours that make writing more so worthwhile.

**RumpleslitskinTheBeast: **Wow you have a frikin long username. I had to put some effort in writing it out. Anyway I don't currently have any plans for Bee, but that can change at a moment's notice depending on what ideas I get. Although one thing I can say for certain is that I do not fancy writing a rap if I ever bring him into this lol.

**Anabial: **Thanks for the comment. I will try and update as frequently as life allows.

**Blaze release: **As with the first reply, I really do hope that NaruHina gets confirmed. At this point I don't even care about all the world saving stuff, as long as Naruto and Hinata get together in the end lol.

That's it for this time. A big thanks to all of the others who also left a review. As always I urge you to keep writing them because I simply enjoy reading them and it helps me hopefully to make the story better. But a massive thanks to all of you for just reading the story in general. I understand that there is a vast majority of you who just come here to read and don't really bother to comment, which is just fine. I'm glad that you took the time to read and I hope you'll keep coming back :)

For now, my plan (although I can not confirm) is to at least write one more chapter before I get back to uni for second term. But we'll have to see. Next chapter will be all about NaruHina with Yuhi-goodness sprinkled on top. Maybe that didn't sound as awesome as I wanted it to sound.

But anyway, until next time: Adios.


	15. LET US ALL REJOICE! (Big manga spoilers)

OH MY GOODNESS! This isn't even a chapter, but I had to write this anyway. I just read the latest chapter and I can't contain my happiness. I'm thanking god right now.

This is it my fellow NaruHina fanboys and fangirls. This is the moment we've been waiting for. NaruHina has been CANONIZED (or at least getting there). That word may not have existed before, but it now applies to NaruHina *wipes off tears of joy*. Lets just hope he doesn't troll us all and kill her off next chapter. And :( for Neji. Poor guy; I feel terrible for him.

But this chapter just made the ending to my year PERFECT. So even if I were to retire now from writing this fanfic, I know the man himself will continue something better. But of course I won't, and prepare to see an onslaught of new NaruHina fanfics in light of today's events ;) Oh and just realised that december 27 is Hinata's birthday. So happy birthday to Hinata :)

Anyway, sorry that this isn't an actual chapter and just me jibber jabbering, but I just couldn't control my happiness. I hope to see you guys soon in the next chapter. Let me know your thoughts and we'll talk at the end of next chapter :)

*Goes to set off fireworks for NaruHina*


	16. The Waterfall

**The Waterfall****  
**

Ohayou.

Konnichiwa.

Oyasumi.

I don't know what the time is where you are, so pick the one that is most appropriate :) Glad to have you here and today I present you with the longest chapter I've written so far. It seemed a lot of you managed to identify the reference in the last chapter, so I decided to put two more references in this chapter, but this time they are from a certain anime and video game. One should be pretty obvious while the other is a bit subtle as it is short scene. I'll say that it is from a relatively recent anime. Let's see if you guys manage to get both references.

Other than that, enjoy and I'll see you at the end where I've something a little special.

* * *

Sleep is a state of the body which is characterised by the absence of consciousness and the loss of control over one's nervous system. In return, the body conserves energy by decreasing metabolism. This also leads to the rejuvenation of one's immune, nervous, muscular and skeletal systems. Furthermore sleep can be divided into two parts: REM (Rapid eye movement) and NREM (Non-rapid eye movement) cycles. About three quarters of our time spent sleeping is in NREM, during which the aforementioned healing of the body takes place. The last one quarter of our time spent sleeping is in REM, the function of which is not very well understood at all, but this is the time during which people have dreams. So why am I telling you this you ask? Simple answer: I don't really know. Oh wait I think I may have some idea.

Hinata Hyuga was currently in the REM cycle of her sleep, and as such was experiencing quite a peculiar dream. In it she saw herself standing on top of what seemed to be a liquid surface. The splash of water could be heard somewhere in the distance. There was nobody as far as the eyes could be see, and a continuous stream of water reached the horizon. Every step she took sent circular ripples in the liquid surface she was standing on, which mesmerised her. She didn't know what her purpose of being in that place was, but at the same time she felt a deep sense of belonging there. There was something about that place that made her feel as though it was very familiar. All of a sudden she felt a rustle from somewhere nearby and her eyes opened instinctively as her sleep was broken. It was none other than Naruto who had just put his right knee on the bed causing the blanket that was covering Hinata to move across her. This slight movement was enough to wake Hinata up, who was very sensitive to any kind of movement; perhaps due to her ninja skills being developed around sensing individuals.

"Aww…you woke up already." Naruto had a disappointed look on his face as he took a seat on the bed. "I was going to…..never mind."

"W-What's the matter Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in her daze. The room was dark and she could barely make out Naruto's face. There was scarcely any light shining through the sides of the curtains, which indicated that the sun was yet to be fully up.

"Hinata-chan, I've planned a trip for today, so let's get moving." Naruto had a look of excitement plastered on his face as he literally picked Hinata up off the bed bridal style. "There are preparations to be made."

Having been abruptly parted from her bed, she latched on to Naruto's neck with her two hands for support and blushed slightly at the development. Naruto, without wasting any time, carried Hinata straight to the bathroom for morning refreshments.

"Let's get you ready." He made a hand sign which brought a shadow clone into existence beside them. The shadow clone proceeded to get the toothbrush and toothpaste ready.

"I can do it by myself Naruto-kun." The older Hinata looked somewhat flustered.

"Today you are the princess. Well you always are, but today I'll give you the special treatment."

Naruto was as always unpredictable in his behaviour. Despite having lived with him for quite a few years now, he still managed to surprise Hinata. At the very least, even if she couldn't anticipate what Naruto would come up with, Hinata always expected the unexpected, which made life anything but monotonous. Not to mention she had a lot of fun just experiencing Naruto's antics. So this time also she decided to take advantage of the situation and get pampered by Naruto, who would do such things every so often. Perhaps Naruto's only problem was the fact that he was like most other stereotypical males who had absolutely zero proficiency or interest in doing anything related to housework or cooking. One would imagine that having lived alone for the better part of his life Naruto would have become adept at doing such chores, but he was as hopeless as ever. Hence why Hinata took charge of everything housework related and did so with great concernment, so as to support Naruto as best she could wherever he required, because after all, he had to bare the great burden of the hokage. But today was different; Naruto followed Hinata downstairs into the kitchen once she was done with her morning preparations.

"Hinata-chan, we'll be going for the entirety of today and returning sometime tomorrow. So we need to take enough food for at least a day." He explained.

"I see, but where are we going?" Hinata was starting to get excited at the prospect of having a day out, and so wanted to know more.

"You'll know once we get there." Naruto winked at his wife.

"You're cheap." Hinata pouted. "But to prepare a day's worth of food, this will take a while. You should have told me earlier so I could get everything ready in advance."

"Sorry Hinata-chan. I didn't know if I'd actually manage to get an entire weekend off, but after a lot of deliberation, I got the days off somehow. So I thought we might as well go somewhere in this rare occasion and had shadow clones run all over the place to find a good spot."

"I see, so that's why you looked so tired yesterday." Hinata recalled. "Well no matter. I'm glad we're able to go out today, so I'll do my best in getting something ready as quickly as I can."

"YES!" Naruto clutched his fists in excitement. "I get to have more of your delicious cooking. I'm so excited that I'll help you make the food."

"A-Ano Naruto-kun, perhaps you shouldn't." Hinata was hesitant at the idea of Naruto helping.

"Hey now, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." Naruto was a little annoyed.

"B-but we don't want a repeat of last time." Hinata sweat-dropped remembering about the previous instance Naruto tried to help her.

"_I just don't want our house to burn down." _She thought.

"Last time? I don't remember, but everything will be fine. Just let me help and it'll be a lot quicker." Naruto rolled up his sleeves with enthusiasm.

"I suppose." Hinata still seemed somewhat apprehensive, but decided to appreciate Naruto's offer. "I guess you can dice a few onions."

"_Yeah, he's just going to be cutting some onions. Nothing too complicated. What could possibly go wrong?" _She asked herself to pacify her mind. But little did she know that everything could, and would go wrong, and it was all the fault of the _**cutting**_ part.

"YOSH!" Naruto gave a battle cry as he grabbed a dangerously sharp knife placed next to the chopping block. He proceeded to pick out an onion and peel off its skin.

"_So far so good."_ It looked to Hinata who was observing Naruto through the corner of her eyes that things were going to be just fine. So she decided to leave Naruto for a second to go pick out some food to cook from the refrigerator. But before she could even open the refrigerator door, the chaos ensued.

Hinata heard the sound of the knife dropping on the countertop and quickly turned her head to see what happened. Naruto also looked over at Hinata, but his face had a horrified look and tears were flowing from his eyes like rivers.

"What's t-" Hinata was stopped before she could finish her sentence as Naruto brought up his index finger, which was now bleeding profusely. Before Hinata could do anything, Naruto flailed his finger around in mid-air and started doing circular laps around the kitchen.

"MY FINGER! HELP, MY FINGER! I'VE RECEIVED A MORTAL WOUND! I'M BLEEDING OUT! THE WORLD IS SPINNING! MY VISION IS FADING! MY SENSES ARE DISAPPEARING! I'M DYING OF BLOOD LOSS! HEEEEELLLLLLP MEEEEEEEEE HINATA-CHAAAAAAANNNNNN!" He shouted in paranoia.

"Calm down Naruto-kun." Hinata called out to Naruto but to no avail, as he continued running around like a headless chicken. "Please stop and calm down."

Hinata's words went to deaf ears as Naruto continued his screaming, shouting and flailing. With no other options left, Hinata used her full body strength to push Naruto against the wall and trap him in a corner. This finally brought Naruto back to his senses as he was startled by the extremely close proximity of his partner's face to his own.

"Let me have a look." Hinata requested with a concerned face. She grabbed the bleeding finger and proceeded to put it in her mouth to stop the bleeding.

"Ita-" Naruto gave a squeak in response to her saliva reacting to the cut. Hearing his noise, Hinata gave an upwards glance while still keeping his finger in her mouth, which made Naruto blush uncontrollably and avert his own gaze.

"That should stop the bleeding temporarily." Hinata informed Naruto. "But we need to put a band aid."

"Y-Yeah." Naruto stuttered still not looking her in the eyes.

Hinata kept a hold of his hand as she reached for a shelf in the kitchen and brought out a first aid box. She took out an ointment to put on the cut and wrapped a band aid around the wounded area.

"There, that should fix it." Hinata gave Naruto a heart-warming smile, which seemed to do more healing than the band aid did.

"A-Arigatou…" Naruto trailed off.

"It's quite unlike you to blush and stutter Naruto-kun." Hinata decided to take advantage of the situation and tease him a little. "Perhaps you were overwhelmed by my charm?"

"N-No." Naruto looked away once again. He knew that despite how stubborn he may be, he could never win against his wife.

"Anyway, I told you this wasn't such a great idea. Although I appreciate your wiliness to help, I'd suggest you sit this one out."

"I guess you're right." Naruto sighed. "But it'd be boring otherwise."

"Then how about you go check on Yuhi Naruto-kun." Hinata propositioned. "She was looking forward to training with you yesterday. I'm sure she wouldn't mind waking up early if it meant spending time with her father."

"Oh if it's Yuhi, I've already woken her up. I sent her out with a clone for a morning jog."

At that very moment the sound of the main entrance could be heard.

"Oh, it seems they are back." Hinata pointed out. "How about you go spend time with her while I get this ready? Then we can head out ASAP."

"As you wish my lady." Naruto gave a firm nod as he headed off to meet his daughter.

Naruto and Yuhi went to the backyard where the two watered the assortment of plants that the family had grown over the years. Naruto always had an affinity towards gardening while Hinata loved pressing flowers, and their interests combined gave rise to a mini-botanical garden in their backyard. Since their house was towards the outskirts of Konoha, it had quite a lot of open area surrounding it and hence the backyard was much spacious than the average house. It was nowhere near as big as the Uchiha's or the Hyuuga's, but it was rather sizeable in its own right. This allowed the couple to grow a wide assortment of flowers and plants which even gave Ino's family a run for its money. Naruto being hokage managed to bring many varieties of plants from different nations, some of which could not be found elsewhere in Konoha. This led their garden to become quite the prized landmark in the village. Of course having such a garden was quite the ambitious undertaking as taking care of all the plant life required a lot of time and effort to be maintained by two people. But as always, with the help of his shadow clones and Yuhi tagging along, Naruto managed to tend to everything as Hinata prepared the meals for the day.

With Hinata's chef-like expertise in cooking, she finished preparing food for the whole day in just over an hour, and everything was also neatly packed up in a rather sizeable picnic basket. She also served some light breakfast to start off the day as the three sat and enjoyed a refreshing morning's meal while talking about the trip ahead of them.

After finishing breakfast, all three headed back upstairs to change into clothes for the outing. Within about five minutes, Naruto was the first to get ready, but definitely looked the part. Naruto sported his signature black shirt with orange spirals with a black and orange hoodie and matching pants of a similar colour pallet, which would make most of his fangirls squeal in joy. He went downstairs to gather some necessary utilities in a bag and waited for the other two, who took noticeably longer to get prepared. But the wait was definitely worth it once he got to see his family in their final getup. Hinata wore a beautiful long-sleeved snow white blouse complimented by a light aquamarine long skirt, which gave her a very princess-like look. Yuhi on the other hand wore a light orange shirt very similar in look to her mother's, but with dark navy blue trousers similar in look to her father's. Both Hinata and Yuhi wore matching straw hits for the occasion. Naruto stood in place for a good few seconds speechless as he looked at the two, only to be snapped out of his daze by Hinata.

"What's the matter Naruto-kun?" She asked.

"You look dazzling Hinata-chan." He replied. "My eyes can't take much more of this."

Hinata blushed at the remark but complimented back, "And you look even more handsome than normal. I'm sure other females would think the same."

"What about me daddy?" Yuhi asked hearing the conversation between her parents.

"No one can beat you my little princess." Naruto rubbed her cheeks playfully. "You look like a little angel."

"I feel the same way too Yuhi." Hinata gave her a reassuring smile as the three exited the house and Hinata locked the doors.

As they already lived in the outskirts of Konoha, it only took about ten minutes of walking for them to reach the main exit to the village. The two guards Izumo and Kotetsu instantly stood up as soon as they saw Naruto and his family.

"Hokage-sama, going out with your family?" Izumo asked in a formal tone.

"Ah yea, we'll be off for the weekend." Naruto replied putting his hand up and waving at them to sit.

"FOR AN ENTIRE WEEKEND?" Kotetsu almost crashed on his backside. "Surely you understand we need you at all times hokage-sama. You can't just leave the village like that. That goes for you too Hinata-sama; the Hyuuga need you too."

"Hey man chill. Shikamaru will take care of everything while I'm gone, so go to him if something comes up." Naruto stated non-callously.

"As for the Hyuuga, father should be able to tend to it if a situation does arise." Hinata added to Naruto's statement.

At that very moment both Shikamaru and Hiashi rolled around in their beds uncomfortably. Neither of them were informed about these arrangements.

"Let's go daddy." Yuhi pulled on Naruto's sleeve trying to get him closer to the exit.

The family exited the village and walked a small distance before Naruto made his suggestion.

"Alright then, since our destination is pretty far away, we'll be using a fast travel option. Otherwise it'd take us an entire day to just get there." Naruto explained.

"What fast travel daddy?" Yuhi questioned her father. "What are we traveling on?"

"You're looking at it right now." Naruto replied pointing his thumb at himself. "I'll show you something amazing Yuhi. Just watch."

Within a few seconds Naruto's entire body started flickering a yellow colour. Yuhi's eyes widened in surprise; this was the first time she had seen anything like it.

"This is Kyuubi mode." Naruto remarked showing his full form.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yuhi screamed like a little girl, which she was. "What is it? How did you do it? When did you learn it? Where can you learn it? Can I do it?"

"C-calm down Yuhi." Naruto was slightly taken aback by the plethora of questions thrown his way. "I'll tell you more while we are on our way, but for now let's get moving."

Naruto picked Yuhi up with his left hand and grabbed Hinata tightly by the waist. She also responded by holding on to Naruto tightly, having travelled like this before. Like a flash of lightning the three disappeared from their previous position and were travelling at a speed the human eye could not comprehend. Naruto jumped from tree to tree leaving only a gust of wind in his wake. En route Naruto explained to Yuhi a little bit about his current form like how it worked and what it could do, leaving out most of the details regarding its origin and the Kyuubi himself, even though it was named after him. She was still too young to be able to understand the technical aspects. In this form, an entire day's journey was shortened to only about an hour. Naruto landed at an open grassy prairie with a variety of trees scattered about that led upwards towards a small hill, which was also covered in greenery. The bright sunlight made the entire area feel organic and come to life.

"We're here." Naruto declared loudly to the other two.

"This place is beautiful and refreshing." Hinata commented while taking in a deep breath.

"Isn't it?" Naruto asked in self-praise.

Yuhi started running around in circles and all other sorts of inexplicable geometrical shapes given the large open area.

"Looks like she's already enjoying herself." Hinata said trying to keep her eyes on her daughter.

"Wait until we get to the real destination." Naruto affirmed.

"Where are we going?" Yuhi asked stopping dead in her tracks.

"You see that hill," Naruto pointed his index finger at the upwards slope, "Our destination is on the other side."

"Let's go; I'll beat you there daddy." She made a declaration of war to Naruto and already got a head start.

"Is that so? Then let's all have a race and see who among us is the fastest." Naruto accepted the challenge and almost caught up to his daughter as he started running. "I may be a father, but I'm no old man yet."

"What about me?" Hinata asked but she had no audience left.

At this point Naruto and Yuhi were head to head in their race to the top of the hill. Neither of them were about to yield.

"What's the matter Yuhi; is that all you got?" Naruto casually chaffed at his daughter.

"I won't give up." Yuhi replied as she tried her best to keep up with Naruto.

"I thought you met your grandfather. He was known as the yellow flash of Konoha because he moved in the blink of an eye. Given you are his granddaughter, you have a lot to live up to."

"Yes, I will become just as fast as him." Yuhi pushed herself to her limit and caught up to her father at the very top.

"That's it, that's the spirit, but I'm not done yet." Naruto and Yuhi both jumped off the cliff at the same, below them a huge field of flowers as far as the eyes could see.

"Wow!" Yuhi exclaimed in awe at the sight below her as she dived towards the ground.

Naruto was enjoying the expression on Yuhi's face but was suddenly distracted by an anomaly in his view. He saw an awe-inspiring young maiden with long flowing hair and a dress that drifted with the wind. At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him but as he got closer he realized it was none other than Hinata standing among the flowers.

"I guess I win." Hinata grinned at the two as they made their landing around her.

"H-how did you even get here before us?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah how?" Yuhi compounded on the question.

"There's a shortcut through the side of the cliff." Hinata replied pointing at the direction she came from.

"What, no." Yuhi sighed.

"Well it seems we have much more training to do." Naruto laughed at the silly outcome. "But how do you like this place? I had to work pretty hard to find it."

"I've never been to a place so lovely before Naruto-kun." Hinata looked dreamily around her. "Of all the places we've been to this has to be the very best."

"Me too daddy." Yuhi jumped up and down to let her presence be known. "This is the best. I've never seen so many flowers before in my life."

"Is it really that great?" Naruto asked Hinata as their daughter was busy inspecting each kind of flower she saw.

"Indeed it is, and here's your gift for bringing us here." Hinata closed the gap between herself and Naruto almost at the same speed as the yellow flash and gave him a light peck on his cheek and quickly moved back to her position before their daughter could find anything.

" .Ever." Naruto could only reply as he rubbed the place of contact.

"Daddy over there; I see a stream." Yuhi pointed towards a small river further away. On the other side of the river was the beginning to a lush forest.

"Alright then let's take a walk there." Naruto suggested to the others.

"Lets lets." Yuhi seemed excited.

"That would be nice." Hinata agreed with the idea.

"Okay then, how about we try this?" Naruto picked up Yuhi and put her on top of his shoulder. "You like the view?"

"I CAN SEE SO MUCH." Yuhi shouted in even more excitement. "But I want to go even more higher."

"Even higher, hmmm." Naruto said looking around when his eyes finally rested on Hinata. "I KNOW!"

"W-What is it?" Hinata asked skeptically as she saw Naruto move in closer to her.

Naruto once again picked Yuhi up but this time put her on Hinata's shoulder. Following that he quickly slid behind them.

"D-daddy?" Yuhi asked seeing Naruto vanish from her site so quickly.

The next moment Hinata gave a squeak as she was lifted off her feet into the air. Naruto was now at the bottom of the makeshift tree structure with Hinata on his shoulders and Yuhi on top of her's.

"P-p-put me down Naruto-kun." She said trying to hold on to Naruto below her.

"This is EVEN BETTER!" Yuhi shook around in amazement.

"See Hinata-chan, Yuhi agrees." Naruto did his best to balance his body and not let the others fall. "Let's have some fun."

"Come on mommy, this is awesome." Yuhi requested.

"Ah mooo, fine, but only for a bit." Although she seemed reserved, she was having fun too as though she was a kid playing a game. "And don't look up."

"OFF WE GO!" Naruto declared with a shout as he started running towards the river.

"GO GO!" Yuhi spurred him on.

Hinata did her best to keep her balance.

Naruto walked upstream as the three appreciated the natural landscape around them. It seemed this place was relatively unknown as very few signs of anyone being here before were present. Even animals from the forest gathered on the other side of the river to spectate the new visitors to the area. The rest of the day passed with similar tranquillity as the three enjoyed lunch together in the flowerbed and played hide and seek in the woods. Before long the sun had set and the night was fully underway. Since they were in the forest area, the night time seemed much more prominent as everything had become completely silent with only the ambient sound of crickets being omnipresent in all directions. Naruto set up a tent and the three decided to have an early night in. Before too long, everyone was sound asleep just like the nature surrounding them.

Naruto's sleep was abruptly broken due to the need to have a midnight toilet trip. He woke up in a daze and crawled out of the tent as quietly as he could so as not to wake up the others. It helped that he was sleeping right next to the entrance. He walked a fair distance and found a suitable tree to pay his water bill. It took him a bit of time to realise, but there seemed to be a subtle sound of water splashing in the distance somewhere. Having relieved himself and his interests peaked, he started walking towards the source of the noise. As Naruto got closer, the noise became increasing prevalent and clear. Soon enough the source was in visible range although still quite far from the woods. It was none other than a waterfall. The waterfall itself was the source of the river that they had followed earlier that day. The embankment of the river area was covered by several relatively large rocks. Naruto was about to step out of the woods when he realised that there was someone standing in the middle of the river a small distance from the waterfall. Of course given the ability to stand on water, the person must have been a ninja and thus Naruto decided to quickly take cover in a nearby bush and to not be detected.

At this same moment Hinata was standing a small distance from the waterfall, but she was far enough from Naruto to not be specifically identified. She had earlier thought that this place seemed somewhat familiar, but the waterfall confirmed her suspicion. This was definitely the same waterfall she had been to during her mission with Naruto to collect the Bikochu beetle. She felt a little embarrassed remembering the incident with herself and Naruto under this very waterfall. Nonetheless, even though many years had passed, she felt like the situation was oddly enough almost a replica of that in the past. So just to live her memories once again, she extended her hands in mid-air and did several successive spins on her spot which caused the water below her to splash up and the water from the waterfall to be cohesively attracted to her. This made it look as though she was dancing around with the water in her trail. The moonlight shining directly on her made the sight truly one to behold. Hinata decided she wanted to try out the technique she had practiced here. So she activated her Byakugan whilst in her spinning motion which lead to a giant blue dome to form around her.

The elegance of the scene allured him so much that Naruto lost his balance and tripped out of the bush giving his position away. Even before he did so, Hinata had seen him clearly as soon as she activated Byakugan, but it took her a few seconds to stop her motion and bring herself to a neutral position to retreat or do something else. By the time she had stopped, Naruto had already regained his balance and jumped on to the river himself.

"Please wait, I believe I've seen you bef-" He couldn't finish his sentence as he realised who the person standing in front of him was. "HINATA-CHAN?"

"Na-Naruto-kun? What are you doing here?" She asked back in surprise.

"I was going to ask the same thing to you." Naruto was taken aback to see her. "I was just so amazed by your movements there."

"I see." Hinata fidgeted around in place hearing the compliment. "What were you saying to me just now?"

"O-oh yeah." Naruto was not one who kept secrets from Hinata and so decided to explain things quite clearly. "You see, there was this one mission we went to together when we were much younger. It was the one to collect some beetle if I remember correctly. I just realised it having seen you right now, but at that time I had also come to this very same spot at night and something very similar happened. I had seen a….very beautiful woman dancing under the waterfall. Unfortunately then I couldn't catch up to her and never found out who she was."

"Someone very beautiful…." Hinata blushed as she expressed her thoughts out loud.

"D-don't get me w-wrong though." Naruto moved his hand around haphazardly to prove his point. "Although she looked quite g-good, she was nothing c-compared to y-you."

Hinata could not help but giggle at Naruto's out of character reaction to the situation.

"What's the matter? Why are you laughing?" Naruto looked a bit confused.

"It's nothing. I was just quite happy to see your sincerity, so I'll let you in on a little secret. The woman that you mentioned from that time, it was me. I was practicing one of my techniques back then when I heard you from afar. You know how shy I used to be around you back then, so I just ran away and never mentioned it."

"Yeah that makes sense." Naruto nodded in agreement. "It was you after al-WAIT WHAT? IT WAS YOU HINATA-CHAN? EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"

Hinata continued giggling at Naruto's outlandish reaction.

"Hey that isn't funny you know. You could have told me earlier." Naruto pointed his index finger accusingly at Hinata. "I was feeling guilty for nothing."

"But I liked the fact that you thought I was beautiful and also that you felt guilty." Hinata closed the gap between herself and Naruto and rested her head against his chest. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, I like it when you get jealous over me." Naruto responded by holding her firmly close to himself.

"Is that so? Then perhaps I should start following you around and watching you from afar like I used to when I was younger to make sure you always belong to me exclusively." Hinata also locked her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"You're quite the obsessive wife aren't you Hinata?" Naruto laughed lightly dropping the usual honorifics. "While others may think that to be on the creepy side of things, I think that is quite cute."

"You have odd tastes in women Naruto-kun." Hinata joked.

"But I am an odd person myself." Naruto replied. "And I feel it's quite ironic I've ended up with someone so overly attached to me given that I had very few people who even batted an eye towards me as a child. Even if they did it was mostly out of contempt. So I welcome the positive attachment, and I love you for it."

"Those words…no matter how many times you say those words, they send shivers down to my very core." Hinata held Naruto even more strongly.

"Then Hinata...I…love…you." Naruto whispered directly to her ears.

Hinata finally looked up to show her face to Naruto, one that had a deep sense of longing.

"I lo-" Before she could finish her sentence, a rustle from nearby bushes caused the two to jump apart several metres from each other in surprise.

From within the woods, a wild Yuhi appeared.

"Mommy, daddy, what are you doing? I was all alone in there so I couldn't sleep." She complained rubbing her eyes. "I was looking all around for you two."

"Ah yeah, sorry about that Yuhi." Hinata apologised as she walked over to Yuhi. "Mommy and daddy were just taking a quick walk. So let's head back."

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little regret that their moment together didn't last a bit longer, but he soon forgot about it when he saw Hinata and Yuhi standing beside each other. Both of them were the most precious people to him, even more so than his own life. With that thought he walked next to them as well.

"Perhaps we should continue that some other time…" Hinata gave Naruto a subtle hint.

"Definitely." Naruto affirmed. "I would have liked for you to finish that last bit."

"Continue? Finish what?" Yuhi asked with a confused look.

"It's nothing Yuhi." Naruto tried to change the subject. "Let's get back."

"No it's definitely something you are hiding from me."

"It's nothing to worry about." Naruto tried to cover up the subject, but to no avail. Yuhi was definitely just as persistent as her father.

"Daddy you are mean. You can't keep secrets. I want to know too." She pouted and started pummelling Naruto's legs with her fists lightly.

The argument continued and Hinata couldn't help but smile at the exchange between Naruto and Yuhi as the three walked back to the tent. The night was still young.

To be continued…

* * *

So how was the Naruhina? Good, bad, ugly or maybe I turned this into a shoujo manga lol? Let me know. I liked the idea of Naruto stuttering and Hinata being more bold for this chapter.

Anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning I wanted to do something a bit different here. Normally as you know, stories tend be a a very one-sided affair where the author writes and the reader reads. There isn't much more involvement unfortunately and that is just how it goes. While as a writer I have certain things I have to set in stone (like the development and ending), I still like to engage everyone who is reading and make them a part of the fic, even if that's just by responding to reviews separately or gleaning ideas from you guys.

So this time I wanted to take it a bit further and do a poll for a future chapter. If you remember correctly, we are still currently in Yuhi's memory from when she was 5 years old. But the story is soon about to reach its mid-point where we will transition to her 6th year and finally there will be one memory from her 7th year which will be the ending arc of this fic. So I wanted to write one more chapter like that of "Haunted house expedition" where it's just for the laughs before the mid-point. I have two ideas for such a chapter and I will write them both at some point. One of them will be written within the next few chapters before we transition to Yuhi's year 6 memories while the other will come much later. I wanted to ask you guys which one you'd like to read first. So here are short descriptions of them:

1) Naruto and Hinata switch bodies. Naruto has to now to go the Hyuuga compound to fulfill Hinata's role while Hinata has to become the hokage to fulfill Naruto's role. In practice though, things don't go as smoothly, and Naruto's trolling tendencies kick in when he sees a helpless Hiashi...

2) Hinata's mind turns into that of a 5 year old while everything else about her remains the same. Now Naruto has to take care of an extremely attached Hinata while juggling his hokage duties and taking care of the housework. As luck would have it, all the other kages visit him as well. To top it off Hinata persists on getting in Naruto's way and Yuhi isn't about to let her father off the hook either. So the crazyness ensues.

Those are the two options. As I said before I'll write both at some point, but if you have a preference of which one you'd like to read first then let me know in a review, pm, etc. I'll take votes until I post the next chapter and write whichever most of you want to read first (if anyone actually cares to pick one lol). If none of you care about which one comes first then that's fine as well, in which case I'll pick one myself.

Other than that, I pretty much agree with everything you guys said in response to the comments I made about the last Naruto manga chapter. If NaruHina doesn't happen after this then this chapter was probably the biggest troll made by Kishi. Either way I'm freaking excited about the next chapter in the manga, which should be out in a day or two. I have been excited for manga chapters before, but not as much as this. I honestly hope Hinata is in one piece by the end of the war, which should be the case given Naruto is right there next to her. I'd love it if she got a powerup as well and there were some epic NaruHina combos lol. Anyway we'll see what happens.

Either way, this has been extremely long. So for now, I shall be off. Be well and see you guys next time. Hopefully we'll have more manga NaruHina epicness to talk about then :)


	17. House Of Fore-Ordination

**House Of Fore-ordination**

YOOOOOO! Okay that was a weird intro but anyway, great to have you back and well.

First off, gratz to **vanorkt ** for getting the correct reference in the last chapter. "A wild Yuhi appeared" is a reference to pokemon lol. The other reference which no one got was the scene where Hinata and Yuhi are on Naruto's shoulder, which was from episode 11 of Sword Art Online, one of my recent favourite anime. But the second one was kind of hard to get, so that's understandable.

Props goes to **renegadeofficer89 **for taking an excellent guess with Clannad. Although it wasn't what I was using here particularly, that anime has influenced me so much that I've probably used it as a reference in many places without even realising. So you just induced a ton of win by mentioning Clannad.

Other than that, see how you like this chapter. There is yet another time travel, but I believe it will be different in ways. Oh and its has some references as well. You should be able to get them as a NaruHina fan who is up to date with the manga ;)

* * *

Naruto felt something poking against his cheek. What was it he wondered but didn't want to open his eyes to find out. The poking continued, and continued, and continued before he finally gave up and opened his eyes to survey the situation. Yuhi's expression changed to that of an excited one as she saw her father wake up.

"Yuhi what are you doing with that thing?" Naruto asked in a slightly grumpy tone from being woken up abruptly.

"You mean this?" She held up the small twig in her hand. "I found it outside with mommy, so I brought it in to play?"

"Is that so? So you want to play at the expense of your sleep deprived father?" Naruto asked in a mischievous tone.

"Yes let's play." Yuhi got ready to take action at a moment's notice.

"Alright then how about we play a game of cat and mouse." Naruto suddenly reached out his hands from under the blanket to grab Yuhi. "And you're the mouse."

He then pulled her in and completely trapped her with his body.

"That's not fair daddy." Yuhi tried to convince Naruto to let her go for a second try but he wasn't about to yield.

"Say that to Neko-san. He doesn't care about fairness, all he cares about is food, and I've captured a delicious little mouse for breakfast." Naruto playfully bit her shoulder to show his current dominance over his prey. "DELICIOUS!"

Yuhi screamed in joy as she tried to squirm her way out of Naruto's grip, but to no avail. So she tried force her way out of his grip and the two started to roll all around the inside of the tent.

On the outside Hinata was currently standing under a nearby apple tree trying to pick out the most ripe apples using quick flicks of her gentle fist. She started hearing a mixture of screaming and laughter coming from inside the tent. As she turned to see what was going on inside, the entire tent just collapsed in front of her eyes with no warning. As she cleared the debris she found Yuhi trying to escape Naruto's grip and Naruto holding on to her with little effort.

"Save me mommy." Yuhi extended her hand to her mother knowing that she was her only way out of this predicament.

"You're the one who wanted to play, so don't try to bail when you're losing." Naruto teased.

"That's enough Naruto-kun; you should let her go now." Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and eased his grip somewhat. This was enough for Yuhi with her petite figure to free herself completely.

"I GOT AWAY!" She shouted jumping around in victory.

"Hey that's not fair. It's only because of your mother helping you." Naruto frowned as he didn't like to lose.

"Say that to nezumi-san; she just escaped to live another day." Yuhi replied jubilantly.

"Well it doesn't really matter because Neko-san found an even bigger prey." Naruto said with a sly smile as he dragged Hinata down and trapped her with his octopus like grip.

"Na-Naruto-kun…" Hinata squeaked in surprise.

"Let mommy go." Yuhi pulled on Naruto's hands but he had already snared Hinata with his whole body and had no intentions of letting go.

"It's your fault for escaping Neko-san. Now your mommy will be sacrificed in exchange for your life." Naruto gave a low growl to prove his dominion of the situation once again.

Even though Yuhi tried desperately to free her mother, Hinata on the other pushed her body even closer to Naruto's as she took full advantage of the moment. The warmth from his body felt like blissful as always.

The struggle continued for a long time as the three spent time having some morning fun. Afterwards they sat around a small bonfire made by Naruto and ate the apples Hinata had collected.

"We need to find something proper for lunch." He suggested taking the last bite from his apple. "Apple's great and all, but the body needs more than just this."

"You're right about that." Hinata concurred, "There doesn't seem to be any sign of villages anywhere nearby."

"I guess I'll go take a look around." Naruto said standing up. "Maybe I'll find something."

"I'll come with you daddy." Yuhi also jumped up in response.

"No Yuhi, you stay with your mother and help her get everything sorted out."

"Aww, but I want to go." Yuhi urged.

"Not this time Yuhi, and I'll be back soon enough. So be a good girl and help your mommy out." Naruto replied and vanished with a poof of smoke.

Naruto stood atop a tree and looked around as he scratched his head trying to figure out his next course of action.

"_I know, perhaps I should go catch some fish." _Naruto thought._ "The river stream's pretty shallow around this area, so I can maybe use some rocks to trap a few in. Oh actually let me gather some proper firewood first."_

Naruto started to walk in the opposite direction deeper into the woods as he tried to find a tree that would be suitable for the purpose of cooking. He finally located a rather large maple tree that stood out amongst the others. Peculiarly, the area around the tree was pretty much empty and a small pond was situated right by it.

"_This place looks pleasant." _Naruto considered looking around._ "A house here would be very nice."_

As he only needed a small amount of wood, he jumped up onto a small branch toward the top of the tree which he would cut and take back. He reached out to the pouch on his back and picked out a kunai. As he was about to use it to strike the tree branch, he realised exactly what he was holding.

"What the heck, why is this here?" He exclaimed as he saw his father's signature three pronged kunai in his hand. "Nothing good ever comes of this, so I better put it awa…..oh snap too late."

Before he could finish his previous sentence, the kunai started to glow very brightly and overwhelmed him completely to the point where he lost his balance and started to fall straight down to the floor. The flash of light had also paralyzed Naruto's body, so despite trying to regain balance in mid-air, he failed and lost grip of the kunai. His fall to the ground was abruptly broken as he hit his left shoulder extremely hard against something unknown and started rolling down a slanted surface. Before long he was in mid-air once again and this time there was nothing to break his fall and he landed straight on his back.

"AHHHHH…My badunkadunk." Naruto screamed as he rolled around on the floor in agony from the pain receptors going off all over his body, especially his backside. After a minute or so of writhing around he finally got up as the pain had mostly subsided. He also picked up the kunai that had dropped next to him and put it back in its pouch.

As he was about to move his left hand, he felt another very sharp pain running up his shoulder, which made him unable to move his hand whatsoever.

"Darn it…it seems like I've dislocated it quite badly." Naruto said as he dropped down on one knee, but he was snapped out of his daze by what stood before him.

The empty area next to the Maple tree now had a small house situated next to it.

"The frig?" Naruto questioned himself rubbing his eyes with his right hand in disbelief. "Where the heck did this thing come from?"

The house Naruto was looking at was completely wrecked. In fact part of the roof had broken in after Naruto crashed on it. It looked like the structure was barely even standing up in place and could collapse at the slightest of provocations. It also had a very dark and gloomy aura around it, which triggered all sorts of warning senses within Naruto's body. Despite that he wanted to see what was inside the house, because after all, it had just materialised in front of him from thin air. So he picked himself up while holding his injured hand and made his way towards the door. Just before he was about to set foot on the entrance steps, he heard rapid footsteps from behind him.

"DADDY!" Yuhi called out to Naruto.

"NARUTO-KUN ARE YOU OKAY?" Hinata asked as she stopped right behind him with Yuhi on her tail.

"Oh you two, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked with a slightly surprised expression.

"We sensed a strange signal from here a while ago and thought something may have happened to you. I checked with my Byakugan only to see you crash on to the ground. So we came running here." Hinata fixed her gaze on where Naruto's uninjured hand was and she gasped in horror. "Oh no your shoulder…it's been dislocated."

"Ah this, it's nothing. I got a little hurt from that awkward fall, but it's no biggy." Naruto tried to put on a forced smile to not make them worry, but his slightest discomfort was visible to Hinata.

"NO!" She yelled uncharacteristically. "Sit down here and let me have a look."

"H-hai!" Naruto bolted upright at Hinata's order, but hunched back again from the pain from his shoulder.

Hinata put her hand on his shoulder and felt around as she pinpointed the problem with her Byakugan.

"Please hold still." She informed. With one quick and painless strike of her gentle fist she pushed the arm bone back into its socket.

"That should do it." Hinata gave a sigh of relief as the tension faded from her body.

"Ooooh, thanks a lot Hinata-chan." Naruto moved his arm around in circles and felt as though nothing went wrong in the first place. "You are a genius."

"Please don't move your hand around like that Naruto-kun. Although the bone is back in place, the tissues around it has been damaged, which need time to heal. But in your case I'm sure it shouldn't take very long at all." Hinata explained. "Also please be careful. I was extremely worried there."

"Yes you are right, and I'm sorry to have worried you. I was just caught off guard. I'll have to try and be more careful." Naruto said putting his hand on comfortingly on Hinata's shoulder.

"So what's this building daddy?" Yuhi asked from beside her parents.

"I was just about to investigate that myself." Naruto replied. "Believe it or not, this building just appeared out of thin air before me just now."

"What?" Hinata asked with a hint of disbelief.

"I know it sounds crazy but let's just go in and check it out." Naruto instructed as he opened the door to the broken down house. The state of the house was so bad that the door came off the hinge completely as Naruto applied even the slightest of force to open it.

As the three stepped into the house, a chill went up all of their spines as though something most certainly was wrong with the house. The interior was just as run down as the exterior, and everything was in shambles. The first thing that came into everyone's view was a very dirty towel lying on the floor in front of the entrance. Naruto picked up the towel in curiosity only to find the area below it painted with a red hue.

"Is this blood?" Naruto asked looking at the red patch on the ground. "No this definitely is dried blood."

"So it seems." Hinata agreed shifting herself from the area in discomfort. She moved towards one of the window sills where a photo frame lay upside down and picked it up to look at it.

"HINATA-CHAN!"

"NARUTO-KUN!"

The two called out to each other in unison. Both turned to face each other with looks of surprise in their faces.

"W-What's that?" Hinata asked looking at what Naruto was holding.

"This may seem unbelievable, but it looks to be my hokage coat. It even has the sixth symbol on the back." Naruto described the coat in his hand, which looked very old and dirty as though it had not been cared for a long time, but there was no doubt it was the same as the one he wore regularly. "I wonder if this house has any link to us."

"No way…" Hinata's bewilderment increased even more as she once again looked at the photo frame that was in her hand.

"Have a look at this." She requested moving to Naruto's side.

"No way!" Naruto gasped as he gave the same reply as her. "This photo…it's the same one we took yesterday."

Although the glass on the frame had shattered, the photo inside the frame was indeed very visible, not having aged too terribly. It was one of Naruto, Hinata and Yuhi sitting on top of each other's shoulders, taken during the excursion they had the day before. Naruto pulled out the photo from yesterday from his pocket and without any doubt, the fact that the two were identical could not be questioned.

"But how can this be possible?" Hinata asked still not able to believe what she was witnessing. "This place materialised out of nowhere, we've never been here before and now it has our belongings. Why would this happen?"

"Yea…I don't know." Naruto concentrated really hard to find an answer, when suddenly inspiration struck and he pulled out the kunai from his back pouch. "Didn't you say that one time you and Yuhi were able to travel back in time?"

"Yeah…you're not saying another time travel took place." Hinata asked in amazement. "But that wouldn't make sense. If you did time travel, then surely we wouldn't have found you outside the house. Plus you have to be holding the kunai for it to happen, so me and Yuhi couldn't have time travelled with you. Also if we did time travel somehow the surrounding areas would have changed, which wasn't the case."

"I thought the same, but I remember when the kunai was glowing I ended up dropping it, which leads me to believe that this house itself may be from the future." Naruto shared his hypothesis.

"You can't be serious." Hinata answered considering the prospect. "But it does explain what we are seeing."

"When you two explained to me how you met my mom and dad by time travelling with the kunai I found it very hard to believe, but with this event it doesn't seem too farfetched."

"Indeed, although we should probably look around some more." As Hinata finished her sentence she felt a dark presence permeating around the house followed by a very loud scream of distress.

"YUHI!" Naruto shouted as shifted his gaze towards the stairs. While the two of them were talking, Yuhi had sneaked past and went upstairs by herself.

"LET'S GO!" Hinata called out to Naruto as the two didn't waste even a second running towards the stairs leading to the floor above.

Naruto took the lead as he leaped across the spiral stairway with Hinata on his tail, but as Hinata took a few steps, the stairway below her crumbled and she fell down to the basement area below.

"Hinata!" Naruto turned around but he was too late to grab her.

"Don't worry about me Naruto-kun, I'm fine." Hinata consoled from the below. "Go to Yuhi now."

"I'm going." He didn't have any time to spare and started running once again until he reached the top floor.

The upper floor was completely destroyed and open as all the walls to the different rooms had been fully demolished. This floor was now shrouded in an inexplicable dark aura that could make any human being lose their sanity. At the middle of the floor, Yuhi stood motionless and in front of her was a pitch black figure similar to her in size and shape formed from the condensed darkness that was spread all around it. The only defining feature it had were two white eyes which reminded one of the Byakugan, while the rest of the body was nothing but black, a stark contrast. The pressure exerted by the aura was strong enough to bring Naruto down to his knees, as though hundreds of kilograms of weight had been put on his shoulder. Within the chaos, the dark figure started to speak in a childlike yet fiendish voice, which reverberated in his ears.

"**I can see no one…and I've relinquished all feelings…but I refuse to die all alone." **It uttered its first words.

"**I've lost my identity…where have you taken my life…this abode is not just my own…abandoned and betrayed to suffer." **It continued.

"**Lost in time…I've stood in this dark all along…while the voices in my head have been my only company." **As it finished describing its own state, the atmospheric pressure increased another tenfold as Naruto was crushed to the floor. The dark figure started to flare uncontrollably as it looked directly at Yuhi.

"**Daddy's little girl, will you comprehend my words…for I will make you feel what you made me feel…I'll rob you blind as you did to me…I'll deliver you pain and agony…and I'll bring you down to the depths of darkness." **With its final words the white eyes became red while the rest of the body dispersed. The darkness from all around the house began to combine to take a menacing beast-like appearance as it flared even more. It had now started moving towards Yuhi in preparation to attack, yet she still stood there motionless.

"WATCH OUT YUHI!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as he harnessed every ounce of energy in his body to jump towards Yuhi and dive to cover protecting her with his body, anticipating the worse for himself. It was all he could do at the moment to protect his daughter.

"AIR PALM WALL!" Shouted Hinata as the force from her palm dispersed the dark figure and blew away half of the roof of the entire house.

"Hinata…" Naruto looked over his shoulder to see her scanning the area with her Byakugan. He brought his attention quickly back to his daughter, which made his heart almost stop. Yuhi's eyes had lost their colour as though her eyesight had disappeard and she uttered no words despite him calling out to her countless times.

"**What are you doing, this is no time to be messing around." **The Kyuubi growled from within him.** "Can you not feel the contempt and hatred that is surrounding you?"**

Naruto snapped into his senses as the Kyuubi had induced him into his Bijuu mode. Instantly he felt the overwhelming hatred and contempt emanating from all around him unlike anything he had ever felt before.

"**Your kid can't take much more of this. At this rate her psyche will be destroyed. Get out of here this instant." **Kurama ordered Naruto with authority.

"Naruto-kun it's no use, attacks don't seem to be doing anything against this dark aura. It just keeps reforming." Hinata informed in desperation. "We must get out now."

"Yea." Naruto replied to both as he regained his resolve. He made a quick 180 turn with Yuhi in his arms and within an instant moved to Hinata's side to grab her as well. The next moment he had already burst through the nearest wall and landed several kilometres away from the house.

He put the two down and looked back to find that there was no sign of the house in the distance anymore. The area had returned to its original state. Although it was surprising to say the least, there were much more important things to worry about. Naruto grabbed his daughter and shook her only to find that she still had no expression on her. Naruto continued unyieldingly but it was to no avail as Yuhi's body started to become cold. Despite trying, words could not escape Naruto's mouth and tears welled up in his eyes from fear of the absolute worse.

At that moment Hinata grabbed Yuhi and slapped her with all her might in desolation. It contained all her feelings.

"Mo…mmy." Yuhi uttered the first words and looked up to see her mother, who had tears flowing like streams from her eyes, but kept herself strong in the face of adversity. Yuhi grabbed her mother with the strongest grip she could muster and cried profusely in her arms. Hinata responded by doing the same.

"I…I…it was dark…I saw someone…but I was trapped…then you…" Yuhi tried to explain in between her tears.

"It's okay Yuhi; you don't have to remember anymore. All that matters is that you are safe." Hinata calmed her down as she rubbed her back gently, which made her feel safe once again.

"I'm so glad…I'm so glad you're back." Naruto could only say so much and engulfed his family in a gigantic hug as he tried to stop his own tears, which wouldn't stop no matter what.

The three stayed in that posture for a long time before finally letting go of each other.

"We should head back immediately." Hinata requested looking at the two of them.

"Yeah." Yuhi agreed.

"Let's go back home." Naruto said with a smile holding Yuhi and Hinata. The three disappeared from the spot the next instant.

Ino quickly cut off the memory and looked towards the present Yuhi, who was also in tears herself.

* * *

And so the time travel-ception continues. Let me know your thoughts and whether you got the reference ;)

Oh and by the will of the overwhelming majority of you, I'll be posting the chapter of Hinata's mind becoming that of a 5 year old first, which is going to be the next chapter. I think that is needed after this chapter perhaps.

Thanks for responding to the poll and I shall see you next time. Be well.


	18. An Unforseen Hinata Part 1

**An unforeseen Hinata Part 1**

Ciaossu!

As always, great responses and an overwhelming number of you seemed to get the references I put in the last chapter. But special mention goes to **Blaze Release** because he got both the references to Hinata fixing Naruto's shoulder in chapter 617 AND Hinata slapping Naruto in chapter 615. Everyone else got the former reference, but only he/she got both. Can't forget the slap people, can't forget that epic jaw-dropping slap.

Following on from the past few chapters, more references are inbound. I'll probably make it a regular practice from now on since its a lot of fun for me to do and you guys seem to like it. So this chapter the reference is to a very popular shounen anime+manga. For those of you who are keen, you probably already know the reference. So try and name the anime and character I've referred to.

As for this chapter, it'll be the first part of the memory dealing with Hinata's mind getting changed completely. Hope you like it.

* * *

"Yuhi, what's the matter?" Naruto asked quickly grabbing hold of his future daughter's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes." She answered rubbing her eyes and putting on a smile. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked once again for reassurance.

"I'm okay daddy. You don't have to worry." Yuhi answered once again. "It's just that I remembered how I felt during that time. There was this bo..."

"You don't have to remember." The present Hinata said the same thing her future counterpart did.

"But I'm okay now." Yuhi tried to convince both of them.

"I-I still think we should ignore it for now." Hinata suggested. "But perhaps you can tell us later once things have calmed down a b-bit."

"I would have to agree with that." Naruto chimed in with Hinata.

"If that is what you wish, then okay." Yuhi obeyed diligently trusting her parents' better judgement.

"I-Ino-san, perhaps you should use a bit more caution in choosing the next memory." Hinata suggested.

"H-hai!" Ino felt almost guilty at this point. "I'm very sorry Yuhi-chan; I honestly did not know something like that would happen since the memory was initially very tranquil. I'm very sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. I'm fine now you see. Mommy and daddy saved me." She returned back to her old peppy self once again.

"I-I see. Good to know." Ino put on a forced smile. "I will make sure this next one is something funny."

"Yeah that would be nice after that unusual seriousness." Kiba said with a frown.

"I still wonder what that dark presence was." Neji expressed his thoughts to everyone. "And why was that house, which apparently belonged to Naruto and Hinata-sama even further in the future, in complete shambles?"

"You'll have to hold that thought for now." Ino cut in. "We have a rather interesting memory to observe."

With her words, the memory began to unfold.

The hokage's room had been expanded to quadruple its previous size after Naruto's inauguration, and currently resembled a beehive. People were coming in and going out through doors, windows, holes in the ceiling and floor as though their life depended on it. Individuals were frantically piling more and more paperwork on the hokage's desk and several Naruto's were scribbling away in parchments of paper without paying any attention to their surroundings except for Shikamaru, who was spouting all sorts of technical gibberish at them while reading multiple scrolls at the same time. It was utter chaos.

While madness was ensuing all around the room, Yuhi and Konohamaru were sitting in one corner of the room building a lifesize lego castle. This Konohamaru was well into his twenties. He had also grown strong and personable, gaining a lot of admirers. He and Yuhi shared a relationship of a big brother and little sister.

"We did it Yuhi; we built the biggest castle yet!" Konohamaru hollered in joy.

"Yes, it looks awesome!" Yuhi replied with the same level of enthusiasm, as the two of them shared a brilliant high five. "What should we do next? Maybe we can build a village? Or even a city? Or maybe even an entire country?"

"Yeah, a country sounds like a plan!" Konohamaru chimed in.

"ko-no-ha-MA-RU-**KUUUUUN**! Naruto yelled from behind his desk. "What the HECK do you think you are doing at a time like this? I didn't make you my assistant at your request over Sakura-chan just so you could sit and build lego castles all day."

"But I was just helping Yuhi with her latest masterpiece." Konohamaru tried to argue back. "And what could be more important than helping Yuhi anyway?"

"Stop trying to earn brownie points because you won't get any right now. We have all the other kages coming to visit us later this afternoon to discuss treaties and our collaboration plans for the future. There is no time to waste." Naruto reminded. "So get your candy backside down here and start sorting out these forms."

"Naruto, what are you doing? That plan regarding the relation of Suna and Konoha is meant for Gaara, so why are you addressing it to the raikage?" Shikamaru asked.

"AHHHHH!" Naruto held his head in dismay. "This is bad. At this rate I'll end up starting a war than actually making a treaty."

"SORT IT OUT!" Shikamaru ordered unusually aggressively. "This is highly troublesome. Konohamaru-kun, I need you to proof read everything Naruto has written. We can't afford to make any mistakes here."

"I guess I do need to go now Yuhi, since the hokage is helpless without me." Konohamaru said with a wink. "But tell you what, next time I'll introduce to my summon partner, the monkey king himself."

"Yay!" Yuhi rejoiced.

"Did you say something about me being helpless?" Naruto asked in an aggravated tone.

Before Konohamaru could reply, Hinata's bodyguard Ko, barged in through the door and started panting heavily.

"Hokage-sama, we need you at the Hyuuga compound immediately." Ko requested within his ragged breaths. "Hinata-sama has been involved in a training accident with Neji-sama and has taken a major blow to the head. She has been acting very weirdly since then."

Naruto got up so fast that he slammed the desk upside down in front of him, but he didn't care. He had more important things to tend to.

"Shikamaru, take care of the rest." He ordered decisively to the guy who was now holding his head with his two hands looking at the mess that had been made to the hokage's room.

Naruto opened the immediate window behind him when Yuhi latched on to his shoulder.

"So you want to go too?" Naruto asked in a serious tone.

"Of course." Yuhi imitated the same serious tone as well.

"Then let's waste no more time." With those words Naruto was off and landed in front of the Hyuuga estate within half a minute. The Hyuuga compound wasn't that far away from the hokage's tower in the first place.

Something had definitely happened. The courtyard was flooded with a circular pattern of Hyuugas, who were making a huge commotion. At the centre of the circle was the source of the ruckus, which also happened to be Naruto's destination. Not wanting to have to plough through the crowd, Naruto decided to take the aerial route as he jumped very high into the air and landed precisely just beside the centre of the circle.

"Neji! If anything bad happened to Hinata I'll tear apart your limbs and throw them in the garbage!" He proclaimed out loud, while flames almost erupted from his forehead as though he were the Vongola 10th himself.

"Ooiiii, Neji-niisan, wake up. Its morning now." Hinata said in an awkward tone very much unlike her.

Hearing those words, Naruto focused his vision only to find that Neji was in fact knocked out cold on the floor while Hinata was poking his cheeks with her fingers.

"Huh? What's going on? I thought Hinata was the one who got injured, so why is Neji the one who is knocked out?" Naruto asked with a dumbfounded look.

Hinata's ears perked up like that of a cat who had just heard about its favourite object. She turned around and in an instant dashed towards Naruto at breakneck pace.

"NARUTO-KUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" She shouted in joy and lunged with her entire body towards her object of affection with arms outstretched.

Naruto didn't know what was going on. He couldn't dodge out of the way because that would lead to Hinata, who was currently suspended in mid-air, crashing into someone or something. So he quickly shed Yuhi off his back and pushed her aside so as not to get her involved in the inevitable collision that was inbound. And surely enough, within a second's notice Hinata collided with Naruto with an incredible momentum that was strong enough to send the two of them flying 10 metres to the ground from the point where they connected.

Naruto's world spun and spun and it almost seemed to him like he could see a few Tweety birds flying above his head, but his daze was soon broken by the extremely tight embrace of the woman who was lying on top of him. To top that off, she even started vigorously rubbing her own face against his. The crowd around them erupted in many forms of cheers and jeers that one couldn't make out the overall atmosphere at the compound.

"Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi-nata-chan, w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what are you d-d-d-d-d-d-oing?" Naruto stuttered severely having been caught in an extremely unexpected situation while the entire Hyuuga family was watching.

"I was waiting for you Naruto-kun. How could you leave me?" Hinata asked in a slightly sullen tone while rubbing her own cheeks against Naruto's.

"W-W-We can't allow such shameless conduct in the Hyuuga compound, let alone from the Hyuuga clan head." Hiashi proclaimed in a tone that was somewhere between anger and embarrassment. "Seize and separate her from him this instant Hanabi."

Following her father's orders, both Hanabi along with Hiashi grabbed a hold of Hinata's shoulders from both sides and forcibly pulled her away from Naruto. Naruto was about to breathe a sigh of relief as he stood up once again when the otherwise timid Hinata started to thrash about once the distance between them had exceeded a few metres.

"Let…me…go…to…NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata growled in anger and formed a Kaiten that blasted both her father and sister far away from herself. Within the next instant she had ran back into Naruto's arms and re-established her iron grip around his body once again.

"She's finally lost it. Her love for Naruto-san must have driven her to insanity." Hanabi teased at Naruto.

"No. I think she's taken brain damage. Literally." Hiashi said seriously. "That hit to her head before she knocked out Neji must have had some effect on her behaviour. In fact she seems to be almost acting like a child."

"Is that what happened?" Naruto asked trying to squirm his way out of Hinata's grip, which only seemed to get tighter.

"I guess if we were to analyse the situation, then yes that would probably be the cause." Hanabi took a proper posture. "So I'd suggest we take her to the infirmary as soon as possible, and it looks like you'll have to do it Naruto-san since she doesn't like anyone else being around her."

"Yeah tell me about it." Naruto agreed looking down at Hinata's face which was resting on his chest and had a very peaceful appearance. "I'll be taking her with me then. Please take care of her work for now."

"Will do." Hiashi assured. "Please get her diagnosed and let us know the results as soon as possible."

"Of course." Naruto reassured. He then grabbed Hinata's hand, which took her by surprise, resulting in her releasing her hold and the two along with Yuhi disappeared out of sight in a few moments.

Naruto entered the hospital door with Hinata permanently plastered to his left arm now, which to him was a better situation than was the case beforehand. Yuhi followed closely behind. This still got them some questioning glances from the people that were sitting in the waiting area. The three of them walked to the reception where a nurse greeted them with a smile.

"Can I meet with Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked casually.

"Of course hokage-sama. She should be in her office right about now." She replied in a respectful tone.

"Thanks a lot." Naruto made a quick gesture and started to make his way to the stairway leading to the first floor.

"Mommy, why are you sticking so close to daddy?" Yuhi asked for the first time since all the commotion began.

"Because I love Naruto-kun." Hinata replied nonchalantly, still holding on to him.

"But I like you too daddy. Does that mean I should hold on to you always?" Yuhi diverted her question to her father this time.

"No, you shouldn't." Naruto tried to fix Hinata's flawed logic. "Also Hinata, you should let go off me already you know. We are in public after all and being the hokage tends to get me a lot more attention than I'd want."

"But I'm your wife. What's wrong with us holding each other?" Hinata questioned as though she didn't understand Naruto's reasoning.

"I guess there's nothing wrong but still, we shouldn't be doing this in the open." Naruto tried to explain himself better, which wasn't going too well.

"If it's not wrong then what's the problem? Is it that you don't like me being close to you?" Hinata asked with her expression changing into a serious one.

"N-no, it's not that I don't like it. Quite the contrary, but I just don't think this is the right way to go about. People may get the wrong idea and think of us as exhibitionists." Naruto tried his best to argue his case.

"If you like it then that's all that matters. I don't care what people think." Hinata regained her happy composure once again, which meant her hold on Naruto's arm intensified proportionally.

The three arrived in front of a door with a nameplate that read "Sakura". Seeing the nameplate, Hinata's eyes instantly lighted up in flames.

"So this is the reason you didn't like me holding your hand. It's because you've been cheating with Sakura behind my back. You want to hold hands with her." Hinata made some lofty allegations.

"N-no way. I didn't do anything wrong like that at all." Naruto was completely taken aback by the accusations being put upon him.

"Then why did you stutter just now?" Hinata gave Naruto a doubtful look. "You definitely are up to something suspicious. Didn't you have a crush on her?"

"Uuuh, I did. But that was when I was younger and I didn't know much about such things."

"Your tone sounds very unconvincing."

"I TOLD YOU, it was just a childish crush! There is nothing going on between me and Sakura-chan." Naruto half-shouted his defence.

The door in front of them opened suddenly and Sakura came out with a notepad in hand.

"Did someone say my name?" Sakura asked shifting her gaze from the pad to her visitors. "Oh it's you Naruto, and you've brought Hinata and Yuhi along. So what can I do for you today?"

Hinata got close to Sakura and started circling her like a hawk while looking at her from different angles as if to unravel some kind of hidden mystery.

"W-what's the matter?" Sakura asked as she took a defensive posture.

"Nothing." Naruto was quick to get a hold of Hinata and drag her into the room. "Actually there is something. Hinata-chan seems to have taken an injury to the head during practice earlier today and has been acting weirdly ever since. I need you to run some tests on her."

"Is that so?" Sakura asked with a surprised tone. Even though Hinata seemed to be somewhat out of character, it didn't seem like anything was majorly wrong with her. "I'll have a look right now."

"But I'm just fine." Hinata disputed Naruto's claim by doing a quick spin in place. "I don't need any tests. Rather, let's go on a date."

"Please Hinata-chan. Please get the checkup done." Naruto desperately begged Hinata. "Please do it for me, and after that we can go on a date or do whatever you want."

"If you ask that kindly, how can I refuse…" Hinata trailed off as she broke her gaze with Naruto and a faint red colour appeared on her cheeks.

"YES! Now Sakura-chan. Don't waste any time." Naruto rushed Sakura to carry out the investigation.

"Okay, okay. Just take a seat over there." Sakura pointed Hinata to a chair on one side of the room that was very similar to that of a dentist's chair. Once Hinata took a seat, she put a half-bowl shaped object over her head, which was connected to an assortment of wires. "Alright just be calm and sit there for a bit. I'll do a few quick scans on your brain to check things are generally okay."

"Fine, just make sure you get it done quick. I have a date to catch after this." Hinata replied in an excited tone.

Sakura moved over to her table on the other side of the room where Naruto and Yuhi were currently standing. She started typing some buttons on a screen and noting down data on her pad that was being outputted.

"Naruto, aren't the other kages arriving later today for an important meeting?" Sakura asked while still scribbling on her notepad. "Is it okay for you to be here?"

"Yeah I kind of left Shikamaru high and dry to sort things out. I left him some clones though."

"Are you serious?" Sakura finally looked over at Naruto in awe. "You're the hokage Naruto; you need to be more responsible than that."

"I know but when I heard Hinata-chan got involved in an accident, I rushed over there in an instant. I was worried."

"I understand that and from the looks of it she'll be just fine." Sakura consoled.

"You found the problem then?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yeah. It seems as though she was hit near her frontal lobe, but the force managed to permeate to her limbic system." Sakura stated looking at the screen.

"How does that explain her weird behaviour?" Naruto asked again.

"The limbic system as a whole tends to play a part in human emotions. Looking at the effects it seems as though the part of the brain associated with inhibitions seems to not be working. Hence she has been acting so blunt and without restraint." Sakura finished explaining.

"Wait but isn't that bad? It can't just keep going like this. You have to do something to fix the problem."

"No it's fine. The damage was only temporary and I can already see her brain healing at a pretty fast rate. She should be back to normal by tomorrow. So for time being you can leave her in my care and tend to the more important matters." She suggested.

"I don't know if things will work out that well given the recent change in her behaviour. Plus I would like to make sure nothing's wrong with her."

"But still Naruto, there are some things you need to prioritise as a hokage."

"And there are some things that are more important than your work, even when your work is being the hokage." Naruto said in a very wise tone which almost didn't fit him. "You'll understand once you have a significant other."

This last statement struck a chord with Sakura making her instantly go into rage mode. She grabbed Naruto in a chokehold and started to rub her fist vigorously against his skull.

"Wanna repeat that last statement? HUH?" She dared him as though she were a member of the Yakuza.

"W-What are you talking about Sakura-chan?" Naruto feigned innocence from under her vicelike grip.

"You sayin' I've never loved someone?" She asked again in a very agitated tone, increasing the pressure on his head.

"Well it's true though. You don't have anyone right now." Naruto said in a matter of factly tone.

"That's it, YOU'RE DEAD!" She pumped her hand as tightly as she could to deliver to ultimate punch to Naruto at point blank range. At that very moment, for some reason a shiver ran down her spine and her ninja senses started tingling.

She shifted her line of sight slightly to see that Hinata had removed the medical gear and was now standing beside her chair. Upon meeting her gaze with Hinata's, she saw something that made her scurry backwards in an effort to preserve her life, until she hit the wall.

"KEEP…YOUR…FILTHY…HANDS…OFF…MY…NARUTO…KUN! Hinata stated in a slow but deadly tone, emphasizing each word in the sentence. She had conjured up the most grotesque Hyuga glare anyone had ever seen, one that would put her entire Hyuga ancestry to shame. Naruto, who wasn't even the target of the statement tripped and fell backwards on his backside, but the pain didn't even register in his brain from the absolute fear he felt at the moment. Poor Yuhi who was there just as a spectator dived for cover as she did not want to turn out to be a casualty of her mother's death glare.

"H-haiiiii!" Sakura squeaked out as Hinata walked towards her, and she tried to scratch her way out of the room like a cat which was scrambling for its life.

"Good to know." Hinata's facial expression did a complete 180 and her death glare was replaced by a serene smile. "Now that that's cleared up, thank you for your services as always. We'll be taking our leave."

She pulled Naruto and Yuhi along the way, who were both still cowering in fear and exited the room, leaving Sakura behind in her shocked state.

The three of them were now walking outside the hospital with Hinata dragging the two along while humming a happy tune.

"Daaate, daaate. I am going-on-a-daaate!" Hinata sang in joy.

"Ano…"Naruto sounded off trying to keep his balance from being dragged along.

"Nan-desu?" Hinata stopped abruptly and turned around to face Naruto with a huge grin.

"About the going out part…I have a meeting to attend with the other kages today. Can we postpone our little outing until after that, please?" Naruto asked politely.

"Aww…but do you really have to go right now?" Hinata questioned back.

"Yeah I believe the meeting is at…" He looked down at his watch which made his eyes widen in panic. "THE MEETING IS IN HALF AN HOUR!"

"Well I guess it can't be helped then. But take me with you." Hinata demanded calmly with a smile.

"Huh?" Naruto gave Hinata a blank look. "It's a meeting with the other kages. I can't just take anyone with me."

"But you will take me with you right?" Hinata asked as though she didn't acknowledge Naruto's previous comment, still keeping her smile intact.

"But it's a highly confidential and exclusive meeting between the…"

"You will take me with you right?" Hinata still asked but this time with a forced smile.

"But it…"

"You WILL take me with you right?" Hinata's smile was metamorphosing into something else completely, which Naruto didn't want to witness.

"H-hai…" Naruto agreed.

Half an hour had passed. Naruto was now sitting in a very large room in the hokage tower in the presence of Gaara, A, Mei and Onoki, who were all sitting at a roundtable. All five kages were in very distinctive states.

A had a very, very disgusted look on his face and was shaking with anger, causing the entire table to vibrate with him. Onoki was frowning while his left eye was twitching uncontrollably. Mei was giggling profusely while pressing her fingers against her lips. Gaara was looking downwards with his face firmly planted in his hands. Naruto was sweating bullets while scratching his head trying to find out what to say.

In the midst of it all, Hinata was sitting on Naruto's lap with a very pleased look on her face, acting as though nothing had happened.

"What's the meaning of this hokage?" A finally lost his patience and slammed on the table, causing everyone jump in their seats in shock. "Why is a third party involved in this meeting?"

"I'm not a third party. I'm the hokage's wife." Hinata corrected the raikage, who caused most people to cower in his presence, but not her.

"That doesn't matter Hyuga. I don't care if you are his family member or not, you shouldn't be here. Now take your leave so that we can get started with our discussions." Raikage demanded in a very aggressive tone.

"Who do you think you are to ask me to leave?" Hinata matched the same tone as the raikage.

"What did you just say?" A was now at the verge of snapping.

"Calm down A." Onoki ordered, being the most elderly and experienced, but Hinata was about to make things worse.

"What's your problem? With that kind of attitude, no woman will ever come near you." Hinata said nonchalantly.

"Ooooh, that was a good one." The mizukage chimed in. "He is single after all."

"I thought so. What are you, like 50? At this rate you're going to die alone." Hinata continued indifferently.

"Oh my…she's too good. Are you going to take that sitting down raikage-sama?" Mei spurred on both sides to make the confrontation even more heated.

"Stop fanning the flames Mei." Onoki did not like where this was all headed.

"That's it woman. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" A stood up and slammed his fist on the table, causing half on it to break apart. "NO ONE TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT!"

"You mad bro?" Hinata asked with a very sinister smile on her face, causing A to lose full control.

"YEAH I'M MAD! NOW COME AT ME BRO!" A outstretched his hands in a very confrontational manner, indicating he was ready for whatever she had to throw at him.

"You mean sis right?" Gaara corrected him from the sidelines, not wanting to get involved.

"Yeah whatever, same difference. NOW COME AT ME!" A stated once again.

"You wanna take this outside?" Hinata asked in a similarly infuriated manner.

"Let's go."

"Alright then, let me put you in your place." Hinata declared.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Naruto had finally had enough.

Both A and Hinata were taken aback by the hokage's sudden outburst.

"I've had enough of you Hinata." Naruto stated very angrily. "There is a limit to how ridiculous this can get."

"But I…"

"NO BUTS!" Naruto cut her off completely. "Now take your leave."

Hinata's eyes started to water like that of a little girl.

"You're the worst Naruto-kun." She said before finally running out of the room.

"_Oh no. I shouldn't have done that. I'm such a horrible person." Naruto stated inwardly as he face-palmed with his right hand._

"Was that the right thing to do Naruto?" Gaara asked in a friendly tone. "She didn't seem like how she usually is whenever I visit you personally."

"Yeah you are right. I'm extremely sorry for her behaviour. She has had an injury to her brain earlier today which has led her to behave in such a haphazard way. I was very concerned about her wellbeing and so brought her with me here as well. I see now that it wasn't such a great idea. For that I'm very sorry. But she is normally not like this and in general is the nicest person I've ever met." Naruto apologised earnestly once again.

"It's nice to see that the hokage is such a caring person." The mizukage gave a reassuring smile. "I'm sure none of us mind."

"I suppose what you say makes sense. From what I know, the Hyuga are an elite clan and masters of proper etiquette. For the Hyuga clan head to be behaving in such a way, there must be something gravely wrong." The raikage took his seat once again regaining his composure.

"You should go after her." The tsuchikage suggested. "I think this is a matter that needs to be resolved promptly. Our meeting can wait for a bit."

"I am truly grateful. Give me 10 minutes." Naruto disappeared as soon as he finished his statement.

"Oh how it's great to be young and in love." Mei commented dreamily.

"Indeed." Onoki reminisced about his own histoy. "But she was right though A, you need to find a woman and fast."

"You trying to pick a fight old man?" A few blood vessels oh his forehead were clearly visible at this point.

Gaara face-palmed once again knowing where this conversation was headed.

* * *

**Update: Happy birthday to _Jax210_, a kind reader. Hope you have a great day :)**

Sorry for the somewhat abrupt ending. Once again this memory segment turned out to be much bigger than I initially envisioned. I intend to write the whole thing, but it'll require me to make it into two parts. Plus I wrote a huge chunk of this chapter quite a while back, but couldn't keep on writing due to having to write a major formal report for a practical project, and having to solve problem sheets. So I had to finish up as much as I could and post this chapter up while I write the rest whenever I can manage.

Anyway, I wanted to address a question about whether the events that are happening are happening to the present day Konoha 12, or future Konoha 12:

** Tormound: **The events are happening to the future Konoha 12. Mainly the events are centered around the future Naruto and Hinata. The present day guys up until now have been there to more or less comment on what they see and provide some witty banter or insight. But to make things a bit complicated, I will very soon be shifting focus to where the story will be about the present Konoha 12 for a while at least. But I will as always try my best to make it clear when a memory of the future is being viewed and when the story is focusing on the present.

Other than that, for those of you reading the manga: First hokage is the man! Seriously he is awesome sauce. Probably became one of my favourite Naruto characters in just one chapter lol.


	19. An Unforseen Hinata Part 2

**An Unforeseen Hinata Part 2**

I bet you didn't expect to see the update so soon. I had some time at hand and felt like writing, so here it is.

Also check the note at the end of the chapter. There will be something cool that you can choose for the next part of the story :)

* * *

Naruto had activated Sage Mode for a split second which told him exactly where Hinata was located. So he was now at his destination. On top of the tower, Hinata was standing at the furthest end overlooking the village. Although she noticed Naruto, she pretended not to. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying previously, but she didn't pay attention to them, and leaned her head on her hands which were rested against the railings. Naruto made his way towards her but decided to keep a little bit of distance. He himself leaned his back against the railings and looked in the opposite direction to her, towards the hokage monument.

"I know you probably don't want to talk to me after what I did there, and neither do I expect you to. But please don't leave, and listen to what I have to say." He urged looking over at her from the corner of his eyes.

To his relief, even though she had not spoken a single word nor looked at him, she was willing to listen to him as she didn't budge from her position.

"You know, this place holds a lot of significance to me for our relationship. We got married right after I became hokage and I brought you here the night of our marriage to share with you my hopes, my dreams and my aspirations. That day was one of the best days of my life since at that day I got to share everything I had and everything I was with someone. I was no longer alone in this world. For the first time I had a family…someone I could return to…someone to whom I belonged. With that person, I wanted to form an eternal bond. And that person was you Hinata." He concluded.

Hinata who had been listening until now finally looked towards Naruto, but still didn't want to talk. She was waiting in anticipation.

"You see, I am an idiot. Sometimes I don't understand what the people I care about are thinking, and I end up making the wrong move. Sometimes I make mistakes. But that said, my feelings for you are true as they have always been. I know the same is true for you as well. So despite my faults, I hope you will forgive me, because I know that without you helping me overcome them, I would not be able to become who I am today. I can honestly say that it is painful for me to continue on through a single moment when I know you are unhappy. So please don't be mad. I don't think I can cope with this misery of knowing you won't talk to me." Naruto had a truly sorrowful smile on his face, one that was very similar to those he used to have as a child when he was all alone.

That was enough for Hinata to no longer be able to keep her composure. She took Naruto's nearest hand and held it tightly. She gave him the most heart-melting smile he had ever seen, which put his uneasiness to rest.

"There's no need for you to feel that way Naruto-kun. I don't want to see you in pain even for a second, because for you I can lay down my own life." She tightened the grip on his hand to solidify her statement.

"Thanks Hinata-chan; I'm glad." He brought his other hand up to grip her hand as well. "I'll definitely take you out on a date-"

"There's no need." She cut him off. "This has been better than any date I could imagine. Thank you for it. We can go out some other time. For now, go and fulfil the role of hokage properly."

With her final statement she let go of Naruto's hand.

"I will." Naruto gave her a reassuring nod and disappeared, leaving her with a content feeling.

For the rest of the day, Hinata helped Yuhi to make her newest lego masterpiece until Naruto was finally done with his work at night. At that point they returned home together given the tiring day Naruto had.

Once the three of them finally got home, Hinata decided to take a shower while Naruto helped to put Yuhi to bed. Once he had done so, he himself went in for a quick power shower and came out feeling refreshed and ready to sleep. Although once he entered the bedroom, he found Hinata sitting on the bed in a complete mess.

"Hinata-chan, what's up with your hair and clothing?" He walked up and started to button Hinata's pajama top. "I know we are at home, but you should dress properly like you always do. It's weird to see you otherwise."

"I don't feel like doing my hair." Hinata complained. "I'm tired."

Naruto ran his hand through her hair to find that it was soaking wet.

"You can't sleep like this." Naruto picked up a nearby towel and started to rub her hair vigorously. "You'll catch a cold."

"Ah that hurts." Hinata grimaced. "And dry everything properly."

"I'm sorry. I guess I was too rough."

"It's fine now." Hinata expression changed as Naruto's strokes became gentler.

Once Naruto finished rubbing her hair, he brought out the hair dryer and sat behind Hinata and started drying her hair out thoroughly.

"You know, I can't help but think how beautiful your hair is." Naruto complimented while gently caressing her hair and running the hair dryer over the long strands carefully. "It's just so smooth, silky and the fragrant."

"You always say that." Hinata said with a blush. "Are you perhaps in love with my hair?"

"I guess you could say that because I do like you as a whole." Naruto affirmed as he continued to dry her hair. "But I really do like your hair because it reminds me of the one time I met my mother."

"Your mother?" Hinata had a rather confused look on her face.

"I guess I never told you about how my mother and father fell in love with each other."

"I don't recall it. So how did they fall in love?" Hinata showed genuine intrigue over the matter.

"You see, my mother had really beautiful hair, much like yours actually but red in colour." Naruto recalled. "For that everyone used to make fun of her and called her the red habanero."

"That's horrible. I wish I could beat those punks up who called her that." Hinata tightened her fists in anger.

"Well…I don't think you have to worry about that." Naruto laughed inwardly as he remembered the sad fate of those who dared tease his mother. "But anyway, my mother was kidnapped by some ninjas from another village."

"That's bad." Hinata's face took a serious expression. "So what happened next?"

"When she was being taken away from the konoha, she started to leave a trail of her hair along the way without her abductors realising."

Hinata shifted her position as the story got more interesting so that she could look at Naruto's expressions while he told the story.

"Because her hair was so long and unique, my father was able to notice it and follow the trail to the kidnappers. He then beat up the enemy ninjas and saved my mother."

"Oooooohhhhh!" Hinata clapped her hands in joy. "That was amazing. So she fell in love with him after that?"

"Yeah, but there is something more." Naruto shut off the hair dryer and carefully held a lock of Hinata's hair with his fingers. "He was the first person to tell her that her hair was beautiful and how it helped him to track her down."

"Truly lovely." Hinata was lost for words as her eyes glittered with awe. "So that is why you like my long hair so much and always compliment it."

"I guess you could say that, but in reality I only saw my mother once. So me liking your hair is not completely related to her. I just love the midnight blue colour of it, especially how it looks under the moonlight, and how it feels blissful to the touch." He described finally let go of her hair.

"Is that so…" Hinata asked in a hushed voice as she turned off the table lamp and pushed Naruto down, moving above him.

The only source of illumination in the room was now the moonlight that permeated through the windows. As Naruto had described, the moonlight that reflected off Hinata's hair made it look as mesmerising as the cool blue sea.

"Hi-hinata-chan, what are you doing?" Naruto's face was completely red as he was pinned down by her.

"You know Naruto-kun, we haven't done it in a while." Hinata remarked moving her face closer to Naruto's, but he quickly moved it away.

"We can't. WE ABSOLUTELY CAN'T!" He shook his head violently in protest. "Yuhi is right next door. What if she finds out?"

"It doesn't matter. She's asleep now. We can take our time." Hinata whispered into his ears.

"Still, she might wake up. Plus you are not well today, so let's just go to sleep for now." Naruto awkwardly tried to move himself away from Hinata, but she still kept him pinned down as before.

"Aren't you normally the one who always takes the initiative?" Hinata asked with a cunning smile on her face. "Not to mention, before Yuhi was born, we'd be able to put bunny rabbits to shame."

Before Naruto could make his reply, the door to their room opened suddenly and Yuhi walked inside only to be stopped by her parents' compromising positions. Seeing her, the hue of Naruto's face turned into that of a tomato, so much so that his hair looked almost orange in colour. Hinata on the other hand looked indifferent.

"What are you doing mommy, daddy?" She asked with a confused look.

"You see Yuhi, mommy and daddy were just about to get down to business." Hinata replied with a smirk holding Naruto's hands down, who was desperately struggling at this point.

"Get to business?" She tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Exactly. It's the process by which you were bo-" Before Hinata could finish the sentence, Naruto had sealed her mouth shut with his hands and pulled her down beside him.

"Have you gone crazy? She's just 5. You can't tell her that!" He whispered lightly to Hinata so that Yuhi couldn't hear.

"Forget what your mommy said; she's not feeling too well." Naruto desperately tried to cover up after her. "We were actually doing some wrestling. You see, both mommy and daddy need exercise from time to time. And it seems like your mommy was almost winning until I finally beat her to it right now. Ehehe-ehehehehe….."

"Is that so?" Yuhi questioned back in her usual happy tone once again.

"Yea, so never mind us." Naruto changed the subject. "So why did you come here honey?"

"I couldn't go to sleep by myself, so can I sleep with the two of you tonight?" She fidgeted in place slightly.

"Of course; you can sleep with us anytime." Naruto outstretched his hands to welcome her.

Yuhi wasted no time and jumped on the bed into her father's arms, who put her in the middle between himself and Hinata. In fact he felt a bit relieved that his daughter was with them tonight. He didn't want to imagine otherwise.

Hinata on the other hand was a bit annoyed at first for the interruption, but once she saw her daughter's cheerful face beside her, she forgot all about it and managed to get a peaceful sleep along with the two.

The next morning, Hinata's sleep was broken by the quiet sounds of whispers near her. Once she opened her eyes, she saw both Naruto and Yuhi looking onwards at her.

"Ohayou, Hinata-chan." Naruto greeted with a smile.

"Ohayou, Oka-chan." Yuhi greeted with a copycat smile as her father.

"Ohayou, Naruto-kun, Yuhi-chan." Hinata greeted back with her signature smile as well.

It was only at that moment that memories of everything that happened the previous day started to all flood in at the same time. As more and more memories piled in, Hinata's complexion turned even redder until there was an overload. At that point she passed out, not to wake up for an entire day.

"Yup, she's back to her normal self." Naruto said with an even bigger grin on his face. "And that is how I like her best, in her shy and reserved form."

At that point Ino ended the memory causing everyone to return to the mindspace.

"Yeah, waaaaay too much info." Kiba tried to hide his face with his hand from seeing her present teammate's embarrassing form.

"Bunny rabbits….guhehe…guhehehehe…guhehehehehehehe." Tenten kept on awkwardly laughing as she remembered what she just heard.

"Daddy, can you explain to me more about the wrestling? How do you do it?" Yuhi asked innocently.

Naruto, who was already on the floor looking downwards not to meet the gaze of anyone around him suddenly felt like a thunderbolt hit him in the back.

"I haven't ever done any wrestling before in my life….so I can't answer your question, sorry." He replied in a grim tone.

"But then what did daddy mean by that mommy?" She now diverted her question to her mother.

"Wrestling…Naruto-kun…rabbits…auu-auu-auu-auu-auuuuuuu…" Present Hinata started gyrating in her position like a top that was about to lose its balance while smoke rose from her head. Finally after a few seconds she collapsed and lost her consciousness just like her future self.

"And there she goes." Ino commented. "About time I guess."

"_I wish I could pass out as well." Naruto thought to himself._

At that moment, a loud knocking sound could be heard through the entire mindspace, which caused everyone to become alerted and take a stance for anything abnormal.

"Relax guys." Ino gestured everyone to take it easy. "It seems that the restaurant staffs have probably gotten fed up of waiting for us to order and came in to check up on us. I'll end the jutsu now."

She made a few quick hand signs and everyone was back to their seats in the restaurant just as they had entered into the mindspace.

"May I come in please?" Came a voice from just outside the door to the room.

"Come in." Naruto answered back.

"Thank you and welcome Hokage-sama." The middle aged man greeted, who was the owner of the restaurant. "I understand deciding on what to eat does take time, but I was hoping you could order something soon. It has been several hours."

"Ahhh-sorry for that oss-san." Naruto apologised while rubbing his head. "How about you give us everything you have on the menu?"

Chouji's face lighted up in joy while everyone else's faces took on some very surprised looks. Hinata was still unconscious.

"Are you sure hokage-sama?" The owner asked in disarray. "Who's going to pick up the tab?"

"Yeah Naruto what the heck are you thinking?" Sakura asked with a crazed look. "That's a lot of food and a huge tab to pick up. Even if we all divided it, it'd still be pretty hefty."

"Oh don't worry about it." Naruto moved his hand around to dispel her worries. "Oss-san, just put it on my tab. Since that's a lot of food, combine everyone else's tab that are in the restaurant right now with this one. I wanna share the joy of me becoming hokage with all."

"As you wish." The owner gave a respectful nod. "Please enjoy your meals."

"You sure about picking up that tab Naruto?" Neji asked with a curt look. "This is the most expensive restaurant in Konoha and ordering everything they have is going to incur a ridiculous cost."

"Hey man, chill. Don't want to brag or anything, but the amount of money my parents left for me in their bank account, which I only recently got access to from Tsunade-baa-chan made me do a double take. Not to mention, she also gave me everything that crazy old man Jiraiya left because he had no children and apparently he wrote a will giving me his whole life's earnings. Some of the figures I saw in his account were northwards of 7 digits. But above all though, the hokage's pay is actually not too bad. Not that I really care about the money that comes from the work because I never wanted to be hokage for that reason anyway, but suffice to say that I can go around pretty well without having to rely on anyone, and can probably afford to take care of 20 families. So yeah, I want to treat everyone and share the joy. Plus we have a new occasion of me finding my life partner and my daughter as well." Naruto laughed as he lightly patted Yuhi's hair.

Everyone else could only look at awe. Naruto, who was just some random orphan kid they knew as children, was now the leader of the village, had an extremely privileged lineage and was filthy rich.

Hinata had finally woken up by the time the food was served, but she couldn't talk to anyone from her embarrassment. The rest of the evening passed away with everyone having one of the biggest meals of their lives, leaving them to almost have to crawl home afterwards.

"So what are the plans moving forward? We have an entire year's worth of memories to go through. We still need to figure out what happened to send Yuhi-chan back in time." Tenten pointed out to the rest.

"You are right." Neji concurred. "We do have much to figure out, especially that evil presence we saw a few memories back."

"Well for tonight let's all just go back and take some rest." Ino suggested. "We will resume tomorrow."

"That sounds good." Naruto agreed. "I'll take Yuhi-chan with me. Come to my new house tomorrow morning. I still haven't shown you all it."

"Sounds good; see you then and thanks for the epic meal." Kiba waved his hand as he walked out of the room.

Others started to do the same and one by one started to walk out. Naruto intentionally stayed behind until almost everyone had left. As Hinata was about to exit, Naruto called out to her.

"Hinata-sama, make sure you aren't too late." Neji advised before walking out, leaving Naruto, Hinata and Yuhi alone.

"Y-yes Naruto-kun. I-is there anything you w-want?" She asked while connecting her index fingers together.

"Oh so you still have that habit from childhood?" Naruto asked looking towards her fingers, which caused her to instantly move her hands behind her.

"I n-normally don't. O-only when I'm nervous." She replied.

"Does that mean you are nervous now?" He teased.

"Y-ye, I mean no." She desperately tried to keep her composure.

"Why is mommy acting so tensely?" Yuhi asked looking at her father.

"She's normally not like this. For the most part she's become much more confident, but I guess around me she's still a bit shy. I'm sure we can change that."

"C-change?" She finally raised her gaze to meet Naruto's.

"Yeah, you saw the future Hinata right? She was pretty comfortable around the future me. So I'm sure we can get there eventually. No need to rush things."

"I h-hope so." She only wished she could attain that level of composure around Naruto soon, since her anxiety level was going through the roof just talking to him in such a casual way.

"Anyway Hinata-chan, how about the three of us take a walk back together. We can drop you off at the Hyuga compound." Naruto propositioned.

"Sure." Hinata answered back without hesitation. Any time spent with Naruto was good time spent in her books.

With that the three also exited the restaurant and started walking down the quiet streets of Konoha. It was almost midnight after all.

"C-can we go through the p-park?" Hinata requested.

"Let's go to the park." Yuhi was on the same wavelength as her mother.

"Of course." Naruto replied back with a smile.

As they made their way to the park, Yuhi asked a question that she didn't quite understand.

"Why are you not going home with us mommy? Why are you staying at the Hyuga compound tonight?"

Hinata was caught somewhat off guard by the sudden question and didn't know how to answer, but luckily for her Naruto came to her rescue in the nick of time.

"Every once in a while your mommy also needs to go back and live at her old house as well you see. It's like living out your old memories."

"Oh I see, but come back soon tomorrow okay." Yuhi urged.

"I will." Hinata patted her gently on the head with a smile.

The three entered the park which had absolutely no human presence at this time except for them. As they walked towards the middle, suddenly a feeling of intense danger set upon them. Naruto quickly took the front where an abnormal activity was now taking place, to guard the two that were with him.

Gusts of dark winds materialised and came into one single point like a whirlpool until a pitch black figure took form. The presence was the exact same as the one they felt in that abandoned house in the future, but this time it was not just some ethereal form. There was definitely a person amidst the darkness that enveloped it. The darkness rose from all parts of its body like flames, similar to Naruto in his Kyuubi Mode. Its eyes and mouth were the only objects on its face that could be made out.

Seeing the figure, Yuhi's expression changed into one of intense anger.

"So we meet again little girl, and so soon as well." The dark figure said in the same demonic voice as it spoke in that abandoned house, but this time the voice was much heavier like that of a grown person, unlike a child like it previously was.

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Yuhi shouted at the top of her lungs as she formed two rasengans, one in each hand and charged at the assailant.

"That's right; show me your fear, your anger and….your HATRED!" The dark figure also formed two rasengans on both hands as it readied to take Yuhi head on.

* * *

As I said at the start, I want to get some of your opinions on the chapters that are upcoming, if you wish to participate that is.

So as you saw in this chapter, the viewing of memories has stopped for the time being so that we can focus on the current timeline for a bit. But of course we will be back to viewing Yuhi's memories once again soon. So what I wanted to ask you guys because a lot of you have requested before, who else do you want besides the Konoha 12 to see the memories? I want to add some more people to the group watching the memories but I am undecided as of yet. I want you guys to hopefully throw me some names of characters that you think would be funny to have in the group or would provide good insight. If you want, leave some character names in reviews or send me a pm if you want to discuss. I'll have a look at all the reviews/pms and take into account your suggestions to make the final decision on who to include. I look forward to seeing some nice ideas from you guys and of course I'll let you all know who's choice I picked (if I do end up picking one) in one of the next few chapters.

Other than that, I hope you liked this chapter. In the next one, things are going to get serious. There will be revelations in regards to the whole time travel.

I will see you then. Oh and last chapter's reference was from the awesome manga/anime Hitman Reborn if anyone is wondering :)


	20. A Close Encounter Of The Tenth Kind

**A Close Encounter Of The Tenth Kind**

Here we go...

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Four rasengans collided causing huge streams of air to burst in all directions. Both Naruto and Hinata braced themselves so as not to get blown away by the high velocity air that was heading towards them. The power of both combatants was equally matched as neither of them moved an inch from the point of collision. Or that was the case so far.

"I WON'T let you get away." Yuhi declared increasing the power in her technique and subsequently pushing back her opponent step by step.

"It's time I end this delusion of yours where you think you stand a chance against me." The dark figure increased the power of the rasengans so much that it forced Yuhi to slide across the ground several meters in an instant.

Furthermore, under the intense pressure of her opponent's technique, Yuhi's rasengans started to pulsate uncontrollably as they were about to lose their form. Just when Yuhi was about to lose control though, something happened. For some reason, the rasengans held by her adversary completely vanished without notice which allowed her to land a clean hit on the abdomen of the dark figure, causing it to soar backwards quite a distance before finally landing on its back.

"Darn it…those last two encounters have taken a much bigger toll on me than I imagined." It whispered while holding the point of impact on its mid-section as it pulled itself up once again.

Yuhi wasted no time. She instantly activated her Byakugan and charged in once again, hoping to put an end to it once and for all. In a few seconds she got to point blank range to her target, who was still on the floor in a vulnerable state, but just as she was about to land a hit, the dark figure gripped her wrist tightly with one hand and pulled it downwards causing her to lose her balance.

Taking advantage of her opening, it kicked Yuhi square in her abdomen, causing her to fly backwards and land on the ground, gasping for air.

Naruto was completely dumbfounded by the chain of events that had taken place in front of him within a matter of seconds. His face distorted in anger when he saw Yuhi writhing in pain on the ground in front of him. Within a moment he was in his Bijuu mode.

"WHY YOU!" He screamed and vanished, at the same time appearing right behind the enemy in a flash of yellow.

Before Naruto could land a hit though, it instantly teleported much further away from where the skirmish was about to take place.

"Now now, let us all calm down." The figure said in a somewhat collected but evil tone. "It is not my intention to induce hostility right now."

"You think we're going to buy that after what you pulled?" Naruto growled in rage.

"I wasn't the one who initiated the attack; it was her." It said pointing at Yuhi callously. "Besides, she's too precious of a specimen for me to do anything bad to her. So relax; I'll be taking my leave shortly anyway."

"You think I'll just let you walk away after what just happened?" Naruto asked in intense anger.

"I don't think you will, neither do I expect you to, but you don't have a choice in the matter, because I have this." It brought into focus a three-pronged kunai, identical to the one Yuhi was holding. "I've already placed seals for this, so I can disappear at will."

Naruto tightened his fists in rage but decided to calm down slightly to survey the situation.

"What did you mean when you said she was important?" Naruto asked taking a quick glance at Yuhi, who had managed to sit up after the impact.

"I meant what I said. There's a reason I followed her all the way over here after everything happened." The malevolent being replied casually. "Those eyes. She took them from me, so I'll take them back. Even though I failed at the last attempt, next time I'll succeed."

"What the heck?" Naruto got even more annoyed. "Stop speaking rubbish and give me a straight answer. What exactly is it that you want with her?"

"I suppose it's only a given that you do not comprehend what I speak of, for both that little girl and I are from different timelines than you. But I take it that you understand by now that she is the future child of yours and that Hyuga standing over there.

"Of course I understand that." Naruto replied curtly, measuring every movement made by this unknown entity.

"Then surely you understand the significance of her heritage then and the bloodline she possesses?"

"Is it the Byakugan that you are after?" Hinata spoke up for the first time and she was serious.

"Byakugan?" The dark figure started to laugh in a very cynical tone at Hinata's query. "Of course I want the Byakugan, but there is much more to this than that alone. I guess you really don't understand the scope of what is in front, so let me educate you a little."

"As I am sure you know, the Byakugan along with the Sharingan are heralded as the great eye techniques, but they are not the only ones. There is one other besides those two, which is the strongest and rarest of all keke genkai. It can only be activated by combining once again the two original bloodlines."

"Original bloodlines?" Hinata questioned.

"The original bloodlines are those of the Uchiha and the Senju, the founding fathers of this very village itself. By combining them, one can achieve the final eye technique."

"But what exactly does that have to do with her?" Naruto looked towards Yuhi. "There is only one Uchiha and Senju left in this village; Sasuke and grandma Tsunade. There is no way you'll be able to combine their bloodlines."

"I am well aware of that. But I do not need to do so anyway, when you Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata have already achieved that same feat naturally for me." The dark figure had an evil grin.

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata did not like the eerie feeling of where this was heading.

"Do you really think it is normal for a child that is 7 years of age to be able to learn a complex technique such as the rasengan, let alone two at the same time? Do you really think a child of such age can have better control of the Byakugan than what many main branch users can achieve throughout their whole lives? Do you really think all of it makes sense?" The figure unleashed a barrage of questions, which only left Naruto and Hinata even more confused.

"Perhaps she is a genius like some Hyuga before her." Naruto suggested.

"She's no simple genius; she is special, because you see, both the Uchiha and the Senju branched into two other bloodlines. The Senju branched out and gave rise to the Uzumaki clan, while the Uchiha branched out and gave rise to the Hyuga clan. Along the way over a long period of time, these new branches naturally gained abilities, both through genetic variation and their own specialisations that they could call their own. In the case of the Hyuga, it was their Byakugan and in the case of the Uzumaki, it was their sealing techniques. But make no mistake, the Uzumaki are distant but direct blood relatives to the Senju, as the Hyuga are to the Uchiha. Thus combining the Uzumaki and Hyuga bloodlines has the same effect as if you were to combine the Uchiha and the Senju bloodlines."

Naruto looked in awe towards Hinata and Yuhi while trying to assess the situation and make better sense of it. Hinata tried to do the same.

"Ultimately, when you bring together the Hyuga's clear eye with the Uzumaki's spiral, the result is the eye with the concentric circles." The dark figure extended its hands to express the grandeur of the situation. "Neither the Uchiha, nor the Senju currently have any newer generations that will carry on their bloodlines, while you Uzumaki Naruto were one of the last known Uzumaki survivors. So, under such extenuating circumstances, truly the union between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata is unlike any other match, because through the two of you, a new successor has been born who wields both the original bloodlines. There have been those before who have artificially tried to combine two of the original bloodlines, but this is the first when it has happened completely naturally, and the results are truly astounding. In fact it isn't just the third great eye technique that is of interest here, but rather all the other possibilities such a union presents."

"No matter what you say, she is just a kid who has inherited the eyes of her mother and the strength and resilience of her father. How can I trust your extraordinary claims?" Naruto showed extreme discretion in believing anything this unknown person had to say.

"I see you are still having a hard time accepting the information I have relayed upon you. But I understand that you Uzumaki Naruto are a man who grasps an idea by going hands on rather than through a lengthy description. So allow me to demonstrate to you first-hand what I mean." The dark figure disappeared instantly and appeared right behind Hinata. "Although this demonstration will require your sacrifice Hyuga Hinata, rest assured that it will be for a greater cause and not in vain."

Before Naruto could even locate where the dark figure had disappeared to or Hinata could comprehend what the current situation was, the evil being had already drawn the three pronged kunai which was now inches away from Hinata's neck, the distance decreasing exponentially by the second. It was all coming to an end.

As Yuhi looked on towards her mother, she wanted to protect her with all her being. Time itself seemed to slow down as she watched helplessly at her mother's inevitable demise. At that very moment, intense pain seared through her eyes and she felt something inside of her take form. She automatically raised her right arm and stretched out her palm, aiming it towards her mother's attacker as though it was a nervous reflex.

"STAY AWAY FROM MOMMY!" She screamed and the next instant an incredible invisible force hit the dark figure square in the face causing it fly hundreds of metres backwards through the air and plummet onto the ground with a resounding crash.

For only a split second, Yuhi's white eyes were superimposed by multiple circular patterns, which disappeared instantly as she collapsed on to the ground in pain that spread from her eyes throughout her entire body.

Naruto looked in shock at what had taken place in front of him, while Hinata only just truly realised the danger she was in. Both of them rushed over to Yuhi to tend to her.

"Are you okay Yuhi? Yuhi, answer me please." Hinata picked Yuhi's limp body up and held her tightly in an embrace.

"I am glad you are okay mommy." She replied in between her heavy breaths.

"I should have been the one to protect you." Hinata sobbed.

"That's it!" Naruto declared standing up. "If you think you can endanger Hinata or Yuhi just so you can gain some power, then you are in for a world of hurt."

Naruto formed a giant rasenshuriken and hurled it at the evil being, who was struggling to get up off the ground. But right before the attack could connect, it disappeared once again and appeared much further away with the kunai at hand.

"I hope you see now the power I speak of. That is only just a taste test; the real power is yet to be unleashed. As much as I want to take it, I am in no condition to engage in combat right now. That last encounter with a certain red-headed woman and the one before with that blonde has left me in a very handicapped condition." The dark figure struggled to even stand properly. "I need time to regenerate."

"But daddy…he should have taken care of you." Yuhi enquired looking at her enemy.

The dark figure laughed out loud in response.

"Your father made a grave miscalculation. He sent you here thinking you would be safe, but he never realised my true identity and neither was he informed that I was in possession of this kunai." It raised the three pronged kunai in front of its face. "So for now enjoy your time together. But know that once I have regained my full power I'll be back to exact my revenge upon you Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata for the suffering you have relayed upon me. And of course, you Yuhi Uzumaki will return to me the power that you have robbed off me."

With those final words, the dark figure dematerialised and disappeared for good just as it had appeared before them. Although the situation was far from resolved, all three of them could finally breathe a sigh of relief, even if it was temporary.

"Hinata, Yuhi, I'm sorry I failed to protect the two of you." Naruto looked down and punched the ground in frustration of his failure to protect those he cared about.

"Please don't feel that way Naruto-kun. You did your best; the enemy was just too unexpected." Hinata caressed his cheek with one hand while she held Yuhi with the other. "For now I think we have Yuhi to thank for our wellbeing."

Yuhi smiled back at her parents as she started to regain some of her strength back.

"It is still unacceptable." Naruto looked up towards the two. "Next time I WILL be prepared. When that thing does return, I will protect you two."

"I know you will, and I'll be there to help you as well." Hinata reassured. "We will overcome this together, for whoever that thing was, it seemed to be related to the three of us."

"Me too." Yuhi smiled at her father.

"But that power was amazing Yuhi." Naruto complimented giving her a pat in the head. "I didn't know you could use something like that."

"I didn't either. I just wanted to protect mommy and it just happened." Yuhi elaborated. "I didn't want to feel like I did before ever aga-"

Yuhi started coughing roughly as she lost her breath.

"Don't speak Yuhi." Hinata ordered. "Just stay quiet for now."

"Hinata's right. Get on my back; I'll carry you home." Naruto positioned himself to give her a piggyback ride and Yuhi latched on to his back.

The three of them started to walk towards the Hyuga compound in silence just enjoying each other's company as there were no other people outside at this time of night. After walking slowly for 15 minutes or so, they finally reached the front gates of the Hyuga compound. Normally there were guards posted on the gate, but at this time of night, well past midnight, there was no soul around.

"Sorry for the lateness." Naruto apologised. "I will see you tomorrow then."

"Bye mommy and come back early tomorrow." Yuhi waved at her mother.

"I will miss the both of you." Hinata really didn't want to leave them, but alas there was not much she could do.

"Oh; you will miss me?" Naruto teased with a mischievous grin.

"I-I…" Hinata's cheeks lighted up like fireworks.

"I'll miss you too." Naruto lightened up the atmosphere.

"Bye." Hinata waved to the two and turned to go inside the compound, when she felt someone's presence.

All three of them turned quickly only to find Hiashi Hyuga appear from behind a tree. His expression was not the friendliest it had ever been.

"Now daughter, care to explain what you are doing returning home well past midnight with another man, even if he is the hokage?" Hiashi asked in a very stern tone, one that could make anyone lose their cool and break out crying.

Hinata gasped in both surprise and horror. At this instant Hiashi's gaze met with the girl on Naruto's back, which caused him to flinch in shock.

"Who is this girl with the Byakugan I have never seen before, and why is she with you?" He asked in his bewilderment.

"Ho boy…" That was all Naruto could muster to speak given the circumstance.

* * *

Three updates in one week: Am I on a roll or what?

So, you liked this chapter? Did it provide you with insight into what is going on?

Just to reiterate, the poll to select characters to join in viewing memories next is still open. So if you want certain characters to join the Konoha 12 in watching the memories (for the lols or for good insight), then be sure to put your suggestions down now, because next chapter I'll announce who'll be joining.

Also, next chapter will be something that has been requested since this fic began: Present Hiashi finding out about Yuhi and Hinata's future. I had it planned for a very long time and now is the right time. All I will say is that for you **Hektols** I'll make Yuhi call Hiashi "jiji", or something very close to that. Consider that my chapter preview for you all. I'll have some fun writing this.

Until next time, don't let the dark figure ambush you in a park. Rasengan it at sight ;)


	21. Hiashi Hyuga's Approval

**Hiashi Hyuga's Approval**

Sup everyone? Finally got done with this chapter and man did I have some fun with it. I know last chapter was a bit on the serious side, but don't worry, I'll be back to trying to write funny stuff, which I'm apparently known for now. Although I honestly don't know if my writing could be called funny. But a lot of you guys seem to think so, thus I'll keep doing what I do. Anyway enjoy and I'll see you at the end.

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**Far away in a distant island where no man treads**, the dark figure stood in front of a cave indented into a mountain. It dragged its body inside of the pitch black cave until it reached a dead end. At that point it lighted up the few pieces of wood it had carried inside and collapsed next to the flames. It writhed in pain for a while before the dark aura lifted and took an ethereal form of its own, leaving a blonde haired person in its wake.

"You know, you've been making one careless decision after another without my consent." The dark form said in a deep malevolent tone. "It would be wise for you to realise that without my protection you would be nothing."

"Give me a break." The person replied even in great discomfort. "First that blonde, then his mother and now his daughter. All these Uzumakis..."

The blonde screamed in distress fixing the dislocated bone caused by Yuhi's final attack. This person felt around helplessly to find the medicine that was dropped a moment ago.

"I HATE this blindness." The blonde said sitting up. "Get back inside so that I can see what I'm doing."

"You put us both in jeopardy in the last encounter just for your stupid whim. You were lucky you had the surprise factor in your favour this time against the present Naruto Uzumaki. I hope you remember what happened in the future. We can not afford to let that girl slip through our hands like last time. We have followed her here for a reason, and I will NOT allow you to screw this over any longer." The dark form possesed the blonde covering the person in a dark aura once again.

"Fine. Once I'm back in shape, this time it'll be all according to plan." The dark figure stated opening its sinister red eyes.

**Back in Konoha...**

"JIJI!" Yuhi shouted in joy and jumped from Naruto's back hanging onto Hiashi's neck.

Hiashi was not a man who was dumbfounded often, but at this moment he stood there without notice for a few seconds that felt like hours.

"Grandpa…did she just call me grandpa?" Hiashi asked looking from Naruto to Hinata.

"Well, grandpa is grandpa of course." Yuhi replied happily.

"Yeah…about that." Naruto gave a huge sigh knowing there was a lot of explaining to do.

An hour had passed and all four of them were currently situated in Hiashi's room. Naruto and Hinata explained everything that they saw from Yuhi's memory as briefly as they could, cutting out any parts that were irrelevant.

"So let me get this straight." Hiashi put down his cup of tea and cleared his throat. "You say this girl Yuhi is from the future where you Naruto Uzumaki are married to my daughter Hinata and she happens to be your future offspring?"

"Yup, that's the gist of it." Naruto took a huge sip of tea clearing out his mug completely.

"Cool story bro." Hiashi said with his eyes closed.

Naruto spat the entire drink that was in his mouth to his side and coughed violently. Hinata started rubbing his back to help alleviate his discomfort.

"Did he just cool story bro me?" Naruto asked Hinata pointing at Hiashi. "He did, didn't he?"

"Ano…let's all calm down and think things through." Hinata said with a faint smile.

"Look you two; I enjoy a good science fiction story as much as the next guy, but using it to hide some kind of illegitimate relationship is UNACCEPTABLE!" Hiashi's tone changed at the end of the sentence as he slammed his cup on the table and gave one of the harshest Hyuga glares anyone had ever seen him give. Hinata recoiled in fear and even Naruto flinched slightly from the look he got.

"We Hyuga are a family who have long held our heritage with honour. We value our tradition and moral code with the utmost respect. It is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable for a Hyuga, let alone my daughter to have some form of illegitimate relationship with another male, even if that man happens to be hokage. If a man is to have any proper link to my daughter, he will have to take responsibility. I do not know how or who this little girl really is, but I will not allow the two of you to meet like this any longer."

"But f-father, we aren't lying and I l-lo-" Hinata tried to accumulate all of her guts.

"SILENCE!" Hiashi demanded with a glare even fiercer than before.

Naruto raised his hand towards Hinata signalling her to back down.

"So you just want me to take responsibility right?" Naruto's demeanour changed completely and he spoke in a tone that made it feel as though he were a completely different man. "Hiashi-sama, I take great insult in the notion that you feel I have been lying to you in order to cover up some form of unacceptable relationship with your daughter, where I have been taking advantage of her. I would like to remind you that I am the hokage, even if newly appointed. As such I want to uphold the highest code of conduct in my own exchanges and set standards for the entire village. I never back down on my words, because that is my nindo, my ninja way."

"What is your point?" Hiashi asked slightly taken aback at Naruto's sudden change in presentation.

Before Naruto could finish though, Yuhi popped out of nowhere beside Hiashi.

"How do I look grandpa?" Yuhi asked while wearing a pair of blue cat ears.

Hiashi almost rolled backwards from shock.

"H-h-h-how did you find t-that?" Hiashi asked with his eyes wide open. "No one should ever know where those were. I hid them away in the safest of places."

"You are the one who showed me remember." Yuhi impersonated a cat and licked her paws.

"That's your mother's right?" Naruto asked looking at Hinata.

"Yeah that was the one your mother bought my mother." Hinata recalled.

"H-how do you know such information? You weren't born then and neither does anyone beside me know this. I haven't ever told you this Hinata." Hiashi looked at Yuhi carefully.

"W-we saw it in o-one of her memories. We weren't l-lying father." Hinata tried her best to convince him.

"This cannot be…" Hiashi said in disbelief. "Could it be possible?"

"It is." Hinata urged. "We s-saw it with the Yamanaka's mind control technique."

"Anyway, getting back to your point of taking responsibility." Naruto diverted the topic back to the original.

"What are you getting at?" Hiashi asked with curiosity.

"I want your daughter's hand in marriage." He laid it flat, with an intense look on his face as though he were ready to fight for survival.

Hinata's head did a double spin hearing Naruto's declaration. Yes he had asked her the same question in Yuhi's mindspace, but no matter how many times he said it the whole concept seemed too unbelievable to her.

"I guess that explains it." Hiashi said.

"What explains what?" Naruto asked with a perplexed look,

"Nevermind. That's good to hear. I'm glad." Hiashi had the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked not expecting Hiashi's response.

"I meant what I said."

"So you have nothing to say against my marriage proposal?" Naruto asked once again with a look of disbelief.

"Of course not. I'm fine with it and I'm sure she is too." Hiashi said while glancing at Hinata. "She has harboured a crush towards you since childhood."

"F-F-Father! How did you know t-that?" Hinata could not believe her father would be aware of that fact.

"Oh come on now daughter. Everyone knew, except for him."

"Isn't this the point where you pull out the family sword or something, and I have to defeat you in a man-to-man battle to win your daughter?" Naruto diverted the topic back to his question.

"What kind of barbarians do you take us Hyugas to be?" Hiashi replied with a frown. "Of course I wouldn't do such a thing."

"You seriously saying you are okay? Aren't you concerned about your daughter's wellbeing? Don't you want to make sure she is with a good guy?" Naruto kept on enquiring.

"I already know those answers. You are the hokage, so you are of the highest status. As such wealth is not an issue given your job and your inheritance from your parents. Last but not least, you are a man who has put his own life on the line to protect this village many times. No evil person would do that. Hence my daughter will be in good company for the rest of her life."

"I guess that makes sense." Naruto conceded. "But still, I was ready to fight off a horde of angry Hyuugas trying to defend their heiress or something."

"Too much soap opera." Hiashi explained with his eyes closed.

"I guess you're right. I did get into some romance novels lately." Naruto confessed as he turned towards Hinata. "Well there you go Hinata-chan. It wasn't as dramatic as I imagined it would be, but we've got your father's approval now. So we're all set to go for life."

But Hinata gave no reply.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto questioned tapping her lightly on her cheek.

She looked at Naruto with a blank stare as her eyeballs started to move upwards, about to disappear.

"DON'T YOU DARE FAINT ON ME NOW!" Naruto shouted while violently shaking her in a bid to keep her awake.

All the shaking worked as Hinata barely managed to avoid slipping into unconsciousness and regained her composure once more. In the meantime while all the commotion was on-going, the long day's exhaustion finally got to Yuhi as she gave a huge yawn and leaned against her grandfather's shoulder falling asleep in a moment's notice.

Hiashi didn't pay much attention at first, but now that he could see the little girl up close, he could definitely see much similarity in her appearance with Hinata's. The long flowing hair and the white eyes were trademark traits of her mother. In fact, the only physical trait she inherited from her father was the blonde hair. Her personality on the other hand was leaning much more towards Naruto, but Hinata's influence had definitely played its part in keeping her from becoming the defiant prankster her father was during in his own childhood. Now that Hiashi accepted the fact that this little girl was indeed his grandchild from the future, everything fell into place. Not to mention, from the way the girl behaved, she seemed to foster some form of very close relationship with the future version of her grandfather. This thought gave Hiashi some form of tingly feeling in his stomach that he just couldn't properly describe. As he grew older and saw his daughters come of age, he couldn't deny the idea of having a grandchild cross his mind. Maybe through them, he could feel young once again. That certainly seemed to be the case with this newfound granddaughter, and the prospects were very strong now that even present Naruto and Hinata were going to get married.

"It seems the little one has grown tired." Hiashi stated looking towards Yuhi and back. "Perhaps we should call it a night."

"That sounds like a good idea." Naruto concurred. "We do have to get back together with the others at my house to view the remaining memories."

"You are going to be viewing more of her memories?" Hiashi enquired.

"Yeah." Naruto answered back courteously standing up. "That's why I'll be taking my leave now. I need to go get some sleep."

"That will not be necessary." Hiashi declared boldly. "You shall stay with us tonight."

"Come again." Naruto looked at Hiashi apprehensively.

"We can accommodate the hokage for the night. We can all go to your abode tomorrow."

"Wait you're coming as well?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Of course. It is not every day that a man gets to witness the future."

"I get that, but I don't know." Naruto stomped one foot on the ground as he thought carefully. "There's just something weird having an old man around."

"Did you just refer to me as an old man?" Hiashi asked with a glare.

"Well…you are an old man, old man." Naruto replied back with a smile.

"I would be careful with how you address me boy, for I am your father in law to be if this wedding goes through." Hiashi made sure to put an emphasis on the word "boy".

"I don't like how you seem to be treating me like an immature child." Naruto replied in an annoyed tone.

"And I don't like how you are addressing me as though I was your grandfather." Hiashi and Naruto now glared at each other as sparks flew all over the room.

"Ano-" Hinata tried to intervene.

"You stay out of this." Both Naruto and Hiashi ordered in unison causing Hinata to crawl into a corner of the room in fear.

"Hmph. I suppose I'll let it slide this time since it is quite the momentous occasion." Hiashi said turning his back to Naruto.

"Hmph. I suppose I'll let this one go since I am going to become related to the Hyuga." Naruto said turning his back to Hiashi.

"Anyway Hinata, I'd suggest you take little Yuhi to your room and sleep with her there." Hiashi instructed. "We will start getting things sorted out tomorrow morning."

"Hai." Hinata responded obediently and picked up Yuhi, who was now sleeping soundly. "Oyasumi-na-sai."

Hinata walked out of the room and Naruto tried to follow, but before he could exit the doors, Hiashi pulled him by the collar and dragged him inside once again.

"What the heck is the meaning of this old man?" Naruto asked angrily as he fixed his collar.

"I may have said I'm okay with the wedding, but I still need to make sure I know the man my daughter is going to be spending the rest of her life with properly. Hence you'll be sleeping with me tonight. I'm sure I'll be able to learn much about you through such an encounter." Hiashi had a very unfitting grin on his face.

The last thing Naruto saw through the doors was Hinata waving at him for a brief second before Hiashi shut the doors tight and cast a silencing jutsu on the room.

"Why'd you put a silencing jutsu on the door?" Naruto asked nervously.

Hiashi didn't reply and walked over to his closet.

"I KNEW IT! You were waiting to find me by myself without Hinata around. You're about to pull out that family sword aren't you? All those novels said the same thing. There's no way they could be all wrong. But I've come prepared." Naruto took a fighting stance to defend himself against this hypothetical father-in-law that was out to end his life.

Hiashi opened the closet doors and pulled out two sets of futons, throwing one over to Naruto.

"What's you obsession with swords?" Hiashi asked with a sigh.

"I don't know. I always thought traditional clans would have one which they could bring out at times of trials and emergency."

"Fine, I guess I'll confess." Hiashi sighed once again. "We do have a family sword."

"Whoa. Show me, show me." Naruto skipped around like a ten year old who was propositioned with candy.

To his request, Hiashi pulled out an old looking worn out sword from his closet and handed it over to Naruto.

"This is your family sword?" Naruto's tone conveyed his disappointment. "A butter knife would be more effective than this trash."

"How dare you speak in such manner about our family heirloom?" Hiashi retaliated.

"This is just a piece of junk." Naruto said handing it back to Hiashi. "I'd suggest throwing it in the scrap heap."

"You have no idea what you are talking about boy. This sword comes from a completely separate branch of the Hyuga family that only a handful knows about."

"What branch? When I took the history lesson about the clans of Konoha before I became hokage, no one told me about the Hyuga having another branch." Naruto's interest had certainly been peaked.

"As I said, it is a very deep secret that is only passed on from one head to another. You see, decades ago, another branch of the Hyuga family existed in a hidden village far away besides Konoha. That family practiced a different fighting style from the gentle fist with their Byakugan, one that involved the use of swords. But that village was completely destroyed along with the Hyuga family that lived within it. Only one survivor who made it out delivered this sword as a memento to me, the head of the Hyuga clan in the hidden leaf village. Thus it is a very valuable keepsake that I have preserved with much care. I guess you are right in saying it doesn't have much practical value, but it certainly has value as a relic to the Hyuga clan."

"That is AWESOME!" Naruto's eyes glittered with awe. "I LOVE hearing stories about ancient clan secrets and stuff. It really gets my blood flowing you know."

"Relax." He said comfortably. "The silencing jutsu from before is for some personal reasons. I just wanted to have a talk with you, kind of like a father and son."

"Fine." Naruto agreed helping Hiashi set up the futon on the floor. Once done, they both got in for the night, turning off the lights.

"So why exactly did you choose to marry her?" Hiashi asked outright, but in a kind tone. "You had so many other choices, so why her? And do not dare say it is anything to do with her physical attributes, or else you may lose some of your own physical attributes."

"Because she is a kind and brave soul, unlike any I've seen before. She has saved my life several times now and it feels to me that whenever we've had a proper encounter, I've grown as a person. So I'd like to be with that person who makes me feel special."

"So is that why you've been watching her from afar for quite some time?" Hiashi questioned.

"H-h-how did you know about that?" Naruto flinched from his position in surprise.

"There is a reason why the Byakugan is known as the all seeing eye. Maybe you can hide from the eyes of the other Hyuga, but I'm not the clan head for nothing." Hiashi said somewhat proudly at his own prowess.

"I have been fascinated with her ever since she confessed to me. So I decided to watch her from afar on occasion. ONLY IN PUBLIC THOUGH! The more I watched her, the more I got to truly understand her lovable character. At that point, it was just a matter of time for me to become the hokage and ask the big question to her and her family." Naruto admitted. "So why are you so interested? I thought you said you didn't really care about Hinata after she failed to meet your expectations."

"I am her father after all. I do have certain responsibilities. But even more so, I've come to the realisation that even if Hinata doesn't have the requisites to become the clan head, she has her own merits. One cannot control the attributes they are born with, so you can only hold them accountable for what they have chosen. In that regard, even if she didn't have what it takes to be the clan leader, her care for you was genuine. Hence I hoped that at least that aspect of her will would be fulfilled."

"Oh you are so wrong." Naruto laughed.

"Pardon me." Hiashi did not understand the cause of the sudden outburst.

"You are wrong old man. She definitely has what it takes to be the next clan head."

"What makes you so confident?" Hiashi asked in suspicious tone.

"Wanna bet on it? Winner gets all you can eat ramen."

"What makes you so su…"

"What's the matter old man; you chickening out? Didn't know the current Hyuga head was such a big chicken." Naruto taunted.

"FINE!" Hiashi growled. "You got yourself a deal kid."

"SWEET! Free ramen always tastes better." Naruto had a cynical sneer on his face.

"Why do you have that smug look on your face…WAIT! I'VE BEEN PLAYED!" Hiashi protested. "Hinata is the clan head in the future, isn't she?"

"So you finally caught on." Naruto rolled around on the floor laughing. "I hope you aren't going to go back on your word now, old man."

"Whatever, we'll see what happens. I'm going to sleep." Hiashi remarked.

"You do care for her after all." Naruto commented. "But I guess being a father is kind of complicated."

"You'll find out sooner or later yourself, if the future is any indicator." Hiashi laughed for the first time that night.

"I guess." Naruto joined in with Hiashi. "When that time comes, give me some pointers."

"That I can accommodate." Hiashi accepted his request.

"Alright, its time I hit slumberland." Naruto closed his eyes to go to sleep.

But he couldn't. Naruto was currently pressing his pillow to his skull with as much strength as he possibly could muster, but it still didn't help. He finally understood the purpose of that silencing jutsu that was placed on the doors. Without it the entire compound would probably be awake for the whole night from the sound of Hiashi's snoring, which felt akin to the roaring of a tiger. No matter how much he rolled around, or shifted his position, Naruto couldn't get any sleep. He grew more and more annoyed by the second until he couldn't take it any longer.

Naruto picked up his futon and started walking outside in the hallway, until he finally reached a small garden towards the back of the compound. This garden had an assortment of many different flowers which glowed magnificently in the moonlight. As he was mesmerised by the beauty of the flowers around him, Naruto jumped backwards in surprise when he suddenly became aware of the presence of another person close to him. He most certainly did not expect to see Hinata, neither did she expect to see Naruto.

* * *

Hope you liked it. Reviews would be nice as always. As you can see Hiashi will be one of the characters who will be viewing the memories. The rest will be introduced in the next couple of chapters. I guess a little Q&A here:

**Hektols: **I absolutely feel you, but as strong as Naruto is I don't think he is invincible. He was just surprised. But believe me, once we get to future Naruto's encounter with the antagonist, things will start falling into place. Naruto is strong, and Yuhi as she is, no matter what bloodline she may have is nothing compared to Naruto. Her powers needed to awaken somewhat to help push the plot forward.

**Uchiha MeNikki: **Thanks for reading and your nice comment. Indeed Yuhi's bloodline is the same as Nagato's bloodline. Also I've taken your suggestions for the characters into account as well as others' and you'll see the results soon hopefully.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll see you guys next time as always :)


	22. Union With The Hyuga

**Union With The Hyuuga**

Been a while since the last chapter, but I'm not gonna lie; I've been busy playing Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 in my free time looooool. Anyway, if you have the game too, then more on that at the end. For now, let's just get on with the chapter :)

* * *

"KYA!" Hinata shrieked jumping backwards.

"What are you doing here Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked in a surprised tone.

"This is m-my personal garden." Hinata said looking around. "I couldn't get to s-sleep, so I came here to look at some of the night time flowers."

Surely enough, as Naruto looked around he saw a wide assortment of flowers, some of which were blooming magnificently even this late at night.

"OH WOW!" Naruto started running from one flower to another in amazement. "That's a dragon fruit flower that blooms at midnight. Oh and this one's a Night Gladiolus which requires a lot of watering. You must have had to work really hard to keep them alive in Konoha's weather. And these moon flowers are just beautiful. So are the primroses."

Hinata was taken aback by Naruto's outburst, who was now standing next to a small pond situated at the corner of the garden.

"This is AMAZING!" Naruto complimented. "You even have these night bloom water lilies. How did you manage to grow such a huge collection of gorgeous flowers?"

"I've growing them since I was much younger." Hinata explained. "I k-knew you grew some plants in your old house but I am amazed y-you are so well informed."

"Oh no, I'm nothing compared to you." Naruto laughed while scratching his head. "I've had this love for plants for a long time but given the size and scope of my previous apartment, there wasn't any chance of growing much or doing any proper gardening. So seeing such a wide assortment of exotic flowers is like a dream for me."

"I think I know what you mean." Hinata conceded. "But I'm sure with your new house you could grow a lot of plants."

"YEAH!" Naruto tightened his fists in excitement. "With the two of us combined we can make a botanical garden. Heck we could even give the Yamanaka a run for their money."

Hinata blushed slightly looking downwards hearing Naruto say "we" rather than "I", involving her in his plans.

"What's the matter Hinata? Don't you like my idea?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea." Hinata snapped out of her own little world to support Naruto's cause. Of course she herself adored the idea, because Naruto plus gardening equalled epic win in her books.

"Alright, we are all set." Naruto rejoiced. "Actually now that I think about it, I remember seeing a memory where we had a crazy amount of rare plants in our backyard in the future. So I guess we do end up going full on with this plan."

"That is true." Hinata concurred. "Let me show you s-something nice Naruto-kun."

She proceeded to roll her trousers up to slightly below knee height and sat on the bank of the pond, submerging her feet into the water.

"This feels really nice." Hinata accumulated enough courage and invited Naruto to the open position next to her. "Y-you should try it."

"Sure." Naruto agreed while rolling up his own trousers and jumping to take a seat next to Hinata and submerging his feet in one ago. The next moment he recoiled on to his back and flailed his feet high up in the air like a child.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at Naruto's current scenario.

"I'm sorry. I should have warned you about the water being quite cold at this time of night." Hinata explained while continuing on with her giggling fit.

"Hey that's not funny at all." Naruto complained sitting up. "You should have told me that BEFORE I put my feet in."

In this instance he made sure take his time to lower his feet into the water more carefully, but once they were fully submerged, the cool water felt blissfully pleasant.

"Ahhh…this is life." Naruto commented dreamily looking at the stars that appeared like diamonds decorating the sky. "And seeing as how I haven't made you faint yet, it's even better."

Hinata couldn't come up with a reply from her embarrassment.

"Hey it was just a joke." Naruto quickly clarified feeling somewhat guilty. "But it was rather interesting to see ourselves in the future though."

"Y-yeah." Hinata nodded. "I wish I was as c-confident as her."

"First time I've been anyone be jealous of themselves." Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "But I think you are cute as you are now. Being shy and modest are good traits to have and I know from personal experience that you can be plenty confident when you need to be. So be proud of who you are, because you have all the reason to be."

"A-arigatou." Hinata replied looking at Naruto from the corner of her eyes.

"Eya, now you are making me feel cheesy." Naruto laughed pitifully while rubbing the back of his head. "I apologise that I don't really understand women much as this is my first time getting into a relationship."

"DON'T APOLOGISE! I am happy to hear that." Hinata quickly reconciled. "O-Of course it's my first time too. Although this is h-how I wanted it to be always."

Her voice died out towards the end of her last statement, but Naruto picked it up.

"You know, the only real advice I ever got regarding women was the one time I met my mother." Naruto looked up towards the sky once again while he explained.

"You met your mother?" Hinata asked with a surprised look.

"Yeah it was quite a long time ago when I was trying to get control over the nine tails. My mother helped me accomplish the task and told me all about my birth. One of the advices she gave me before she died was to find a girl just like her."

"Someone like her…" Hinata frowned at the thought of Naruto's mother that she saw in one of Yuhi's memories. From what she recalled, Kushina seemed at first glance a hyperactive woman, very much a far cry from how she was.

"What's the matter Hinata-chan? Did I say something wrong? You look sad." Naruto enquired looking over to the person sitting next to him.

"It's j-just that your mother seemed to be a very strong and determined type of woman. I'm not so…" She cut off feeling insecure about herself once more.

"Ah you mean my mother. She is very much like me, or maybe I should say I am very much like her." Naruto grinned. "She was very hyperactive and she did tell me to pick someone like her and not someone weird. It's funny because back in the day before I got to know you, I kind of thought of you as being kind of weird."

At those words Hinata slouched her head down into her arms which were folded across her chest, not wanting to show her face any longer.

"But I don't think of you that way anymore. In fact I didn't think of you that way since the Chuunin exam. And I also feel you are quite a lot like my mother when I think about it."

Hinata raised her head and looked towards Naruto with hope.

"Yes at first glance my mom seems very loud like me but once you get to know her, she is very kind, gentle and caring like you. Also not to mention, you are always determined to making yourself better and you share the same nindo as me. So in essence, if I am like my mother and you want to be more like me, then that automatically makes you want to be like her." Naruto explained enthusiastically.

This explanation made Hinata feel a lot better. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting the fact that it was always her intent to become more determined and confident, just like Naruto. And if Naruto himself acknowledged her for having those characteristic traits, then surely she was doing something right.

"But in reality I think my mother meant her statement at a much deeper level, and as such I believe you have the most important similarities to her." Naruto grinned at the thought.

"W-What's that?" Hinata asked with her interest piqued.

"Both you and mom told me "I Love You" and truly meant it from the bottom of your hearts. Also, both you and mom sacrificed yourselves to protect me. I'm just glad that I didn't end up losing you as well like I did with my mother, otherwise that may have turned out to be my eternal regret. To lose love just after you find it is painful beyond words, especially for someone who has seen so much hatred." Naruto's face was overcast by one of the saddest expressions that Hinata had ever seen, which prompted her to gently touch his cheek with one of her palms.

"That is why I think I have found the perfect girl that my mother wanted me to find. Someone who is determined just like her and someone who would love me with all her life, also just like my mother." Naruto's grim expression was now replaced by a smile that shined as brightly as the sun. For some reason Hinata felt at that very moment that Kushina herself was giving the both of them her blessings. With that she also gave Naruto one of her signature heart-warming smiles.

"I want to always be by your side." Hinata let her wish be known.

"Me too." Naruto concurred. "Now that I recall, it seems the way we got together is also quite similar to how my parents got together."

"How so?" Hinata was awed by what Naruto proclaimed.

"My mom never really thought much of my dad when they were at the academy. In fact at first my mom kind of thought of him to be a bit girly and not having much backbone."

"No way; the fourth hokage is known as one of the strongest shinobi to have ever lived." Hinata recollected the legendary image of the fourth which matched anything but Naruto's description.

"I know right." Naruto laughed loudly. "But when he rescued my mother from the kidnappers from the cloud, she finally realised how great of a man he was and looked at him with a different light. Eventually of course, they fell in love and got married. If you equate that with us, at first during the academy years I didn't think much of you. It wasn't until you came to my aid during Pain's invasion that I started to see you in a different light. And now here we are about to get married."

Hinata didn't know why but she felt this immeasurable happiness inside her that she just couldn't get a hold of. It just made her want to jump around in joy. Somehow Naruto understood this.

"You look like you want to celebrate. So let's do just that." Naruto quickly stood up on the surface of the pond and pulled Hinata up in an instant. He grabbed both of her arms and started spinning her around like crazy.

Although celebrating with Naruto would normally have been a momentous occasion for Hinata, all she remembered in this instance was the entire world spinning at too many revolutions per second than she would have wanted.

"Auauauauauauaua…." Those were the words that she uttered once Naruto had finally stopped his spinning.

"AHHH-Gomen!" Naruto apologised putting her down on the ground.

"I-It's okaaaaay." Hinata replied while her head did a few circles. "By the waaaay, why did you come out her so late at night with your futon?"

"About that…." Naruto averted his gaze thinking about how he could explain things to her.

A minute later Hinata was on her knees holding her stomach as tightly as she could, not trying to laugh at Naruto's predicament. But her body finally gave up on her and she laughed louder than Naruto had ever seen her laugh.

"HEY IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Naruto protested. "You don't know exactly HOW loudly he snores. He would put a tiger to shame."

"Oh wow…I'm gonna die." Hinata was having trouble breathing because of how hard she was laughing. "I didn't…know…father was…like that."

"How the heck would you? He puts sealing jutsu on his room before he goes to sleep. That crafty old bugger. Because of him I have nowhere to sleep now." Naruto clenched his fist in anger.

"I apologise on his behalf. How about you come sleep in my room?" Hinata proposed.

"I-I can't do that." Naruto felt somewhat self-cautious about the prospect.

"OH NO, I D-DIDN'T MEAN IT L-LIKE THAT!" Hinata was quick to clarify any misconceptions. "I meant you could sleep there while I went and to Hanabi's room for the night."

"Oh okay. I guess that works." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to know the craziness that would ensue if he was found sleeping in the same room with Hinata while in the Hyuga compound.

"Follow me." Hinata instructed making her way through the hallways. Within half a minute the two arrived in front of a sliding door towards the edge of the compound. Suddenly Hinata felt somewhat conscious about Naruto entering her room. After all it was the first time a male was entering her room that wasn't her family member. To top it off, it was her long time crush. All of that caused her head to start spinning once again, but she quickly slapped her cheeks to get back on track.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked looking concerned.

"I-It's nothing. Please come in." Hinata quietly slid the door open so as not to wake up Yuhi who was sleeping inside.

As the two walked in Naruto looked around the room in awe, which was well lit from the moonlight that was entering through several windows located around the room. It was clean and tidy, quite the contrary to Naruto's abode, which was normally a complete mess. Not only did the room look nice, there was also a very pleasant fragrance that wafted around the room. The quietness of the night also made it very peaceful for the ear, unlike the catastrophe that was ensuing in Hiashi's room. Everything combined made the room a delight for the senses.

"P-Please don't look so intently…" Hinata requested in a hushed tone.

"I'm sorry, it's just that this is the first time I've been to a woman's room and it's just so nice." Naruto explained regaining his senses, which were momentarily lost while surveying the room.

"Thank you." Hinata said happily. "You can put the futon anywhere you like. Have a good night's sleep. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Saying her last words Hinata departed for her sister's room closing the door behind her. Naruto walked over to Yuhi to see her sleeping soundly, which made him sleepy in turn. Remembering Kushina's word of advice in making sure to get enough sleep, Naruto put his futon down a little distance away from Yuhi to not bother her and went to sleep himself.

The next morning…

Naruto felt something soft poking against his left cheek. Since it was so soft, he decided to just ignore it and go back to sleep hoping the poking would stop eventually, until he felt something considerably sharper poking on his other cheek, which gave him a deadly premonition causing him to open his eyes wide. Surely enough he found Yuhi's fingers on his left cheek while Hiashi's sword was on his right.

"Care to explain what you are doing in my daughter's room?" Hiashi asked with a fake smile that could transform into something malevolent any second. "Depending on your answer this sword could end up in a place you may not want it to be."

"WAIT! Hinata's not here." Naruto explained with a scared look, which instantly turned accusatory. "But it's YOUR fault I'm here in the first place. Your snoring was driving me crazy so I had to escape from your room. Hinata-chan was kind enough to relinquish her room and let me sleep here while she slept with her sister."

"Ahh yea my snoring. My wife used to tell me it was bad but I never thought it was anything major." Hiashi rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"_Your wife must have been some kind of superhuman to have been able to endure that every single night." Naruto thought._

The door to the room slid open as Hinata and Hanabi walked in. Seeing the two, Yuhi rushed over to Hanabi and latched on to her legs.

"Aunt Hanabi!" Yuhi yelled in joy.

"So this is her….your child from the future?" Hanabi asked in amazement, carefully observing Yuhi closely. "She most definitely looks to be so. I mean she has her mother's eyes and her father's hair colour."

"No doubt." Hiashi acknowledged.

"I'm still having a hard time believing it, but hearing everything and actually seeing her in person is just mind-boggling." Hanabi kneeled down to come face to face with the little girl. "I guess you and I must share a close bond since you are so attached to me."

"What do you mean?" Yuhi asked somewhat confused, but soon enough she clung on to Hanabi's neck proclaiming her to be the best aunt to have ever existed.

"Wow you are such a lovely little girl aren't you Yuhi?" Hanabi asked embracing her right back. "I never really felt anything special about kids but if they are anything like you then I could really grow to love them."

"That didn't take very long now did it?" Naruto commented.

"So, when are you two getting married? When when?" Hanabi asked excitedly. "Your dream finally came true didn't it sis?"

"Actually I called a meeting this morning with the other Hyuga elders to let them know of the proposal." Hiashi stated curtly.

"So what did they say?" Naruto asked standing up. "They haven't decided to oppose it now have they?"

"Quite the contrary." Hiashi replied loosening his impression somewhat. "They were so happy that they wanted to get the marriage done today."

Naruto slipped on the blanket below his feet and crashed down on to the floor listening to Hiashi's abrupt statement.

"What the heck?" Naruto asked rubbing the point of impact.

"They were raving on and on about how this has to be the best link the Hyuga family has ever had in its history and how it would solidify the position of the clan as Konoha's strongest once we are directly related to the hokage himself." Hiashi explained.

"Well, their way of thinking isn't the same as sister's but hey, at least they aren't causing troubles. So we are all good right?" Hanabi winked at her sister who was standing dumb-founded beside her.

"Wow, the Hyuga's are a lot different than I imagined, but Hanabi-chan is right." Naruto agreed with her sister-in-law to be. "Anyway, although I personally don't really have any problems with getting married today, I don't think it's very practical."

"No; of course I understand that." Hiashi nodded. "I managed to drag it a week back. Any further back though and they would probably eat my head up over this. I hope that's okay with you two because that bunch is probably running all around the compound right now spreading the message and ordering everyone to prepare the biggest wedding the Hyuga clan has ever seen. This news will probably spread all across Konoha by the end of the day."

"That's just fine by me. One week is more than enough to prepare something amazing that Hinata-chan will remember for the rest of her life." Naruto pumped his fists in enthusiasm. "How about you Hinata-chan?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I" She repeated her sentence in a loop, unable to finish it from the shock of the last revelation.

"I believe that's a yes." Hanabi translated Hinata's thoughts to everyone.

"Alright good. How about we go have some breakfast? It should be ready by now." Hiashi walked towards the door and everyone followed in his trail.

As soon as they stepped out though, a lot of whispering could be heard from a whole bunch of Hyuugas gathered around the courtyard, which intensified at the sight of Naruto.

"It seems it has already begun." Hiashi sighed.

"Look it's the hokage." A man pointed towards Naruto from afar. "I guess the info was true; Hinata-sama is getting married to the hokage."

"The hokage is so handsome; I wish I was in her place right now." A girl whispered to a bunch of other girls close by, at which Naruto looked towards her in curiosity. "KYAAA…he looked at me and his blue eyes are so dreamy."

This little exchange was followed by an outbreak of screams and shrieks from young girls scattered all around the courtyard who watched Naruto like a hawk.

"My goodness sis; you better put him on a leash as soon as you get married. Who knows what kind of stuff he might get himself into with so many female admirers." Hanabi whispered to her elder sister. "I mean his sensei was Jiraiya of the legendary sannin."

"I t-trust in Naruto-kun." Hinata said while tapping her index fingers together, to which Naruto gave her a thumbs up.

"Who am I kidding?" Hanabi sighed. "In that case, you better not ever hurt my sister bro…or else I'll personally have to come and whoop you into shape."

"Is that a threat?" Naruto gave Hanabi a confrontational look.

"If you want it to be." Hanabi returned a similarly strong glance at Naruto.

"I've always wanted a confident little sister who I would have arguments with." Naruto said while extending his right fist. "I think we will get along quite well Hanabi-chan."

"And I've always wanted a big brother to fight with." Hanabi bumped her own fist against Naruto's. "I also think we will get along very well Naruto-san."

The two shared their newfound appreciation for each other for a moment, only to be abruptly broken.

"Who's that little girl with them?" Some person questioned while spotting Yuhi with the bunch. "She has the same hair as hokage."

"Could it be?" A female gasped. "Like maybe a daughter from a previous marriage."

"I KNEW IT!" A male responded rather loudly. "It was too good to be true. Something had to give. Why else would the hokage marry Hinata-sama? It's because she wouldn't have the guts to say anything back. It was his plan all along to use his power as the hokage to cover up something shady."

"HEY YOU, STOP MAKING STUPID RUMOURS ABOUT ME!" Naruto shouted while clenching his fist in front of his face. "AND INSULT HINATA-CHAN ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL PERSONALLY COME OVER THERE AND BEAT YOU UP! OH AND THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE IS MY AND HINA-"

Before he could finish his sentence though, Hanabi had already put her hand firmly over his mouth stopping him from uttering anything further.

"Shhh!" Hanabi made a sound to silence him. "Don't say that for now. It'll create more questions than answers. We will have to think this through later before revealing anything."

"This girl is a relative to the hokage." Hanabi clarified to the other Hyuugas that were standing around.

"I thought the hokage was an orphan, but I guess he did have some family members. His family background was shrouded in mystery after all." One of the Hyuugas acknowledged.

"Yeah I suppose it does make sense." Another Hyuuga nodded and glared at the ones who started making up the rumours. "Stop making accusations without knowing the full story. He is the hokage; show some respect."

The two apologised to Naruto profusely for misunderstanding the situation.

"I-It's fine really. We're cool." Naruto gestured to stop the two from being so humiliated.

"ALRIGHT everyone back to your positions." Hiashi shouted with a commanding tone.

At Hiashi's order everyone disappeared leaving no traces behind. The group walked over to the dining room to find breakfast ready and just served, with steam coming off the food indicating the freshness. To Naruto though, it looked more like a banquet than a simple breakfast.

* * *

Alright let's talk video games. More specifically, Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (UNS3) since I love fighting games. I have the game on PS3, so if any of you have the game on PS3 as well and want to play, then just send me a friend request and invite me if you see me online. I'd love to play with you guys. My PSN ID is the same as my username here: UltimateUnknown

I got the game a day before release date, thus I've been playing it for a while now. Finished the entire story, which was AWESOME and got on to playing a whole bunch of online matches. Of course I'm using the NaruHina secret lovers team mostly (Love how CC2 are stealth NaruHina supporters lol) with Hinata being my main character. Honestly though, besides the whole NaruHina aspect, she is a BEAST character. If you know how to use her properly, you can literally tear people apart. Being able to do Hinata's normal combo, then go into her instant awakening combo and then finishing off with her new twin lion fist attack does some crazy damage. It's just so funny and epic to beat the living daylights out of characters like Madara, Nagato (loool), tailed beasts, etc with Hinata.

Besides Hinata though, friggin Minato is broken lol. That guy is too strong. His instant awakening and combos just let you teleport all around the map like a mad man. You quite literally can't run away from Minato because he insta-teleports right behind you with his kunai lol. Another character I intend to use is Guy. My goodness Guy can literally finish a dude off with one properly timed combo cancel in his 7 gates mode. Unfortunately though he loses life at a ridiculous rate when you are in that form, so he is a very hit or miss character. So I'll probably use him once I get better at the game.

Anyway I've rambled on for quite a bit, but before I go, let's answer a quick video game related question since we are on that topic:

**Shadow: **Finally...it took like 6 months but someone finally realised where Sasuke's attack originated from. Indeed the "Blaze Ball" jutsu was from the Ultimate Ninja series on PS2. The Ougis in those games were downright ridiculous but amazing to watch nonetheless. They just don't do them like those games anymore. So yea, Sasuke's blaze ball was taken from Itachi's technique, without the nuclear holocaust that occurs in the game lol. If Sasuke used anything like what Itachi does in the game...then Konoha would be no more. Good spot though, well done.

AND OMG, **BigBootyBaby **is back. That name sounds so wrong, but I won't judge because she's awesome lol ;) Although I can't remember the username of every person that reads this story, I know by heart a bunch of you guys who have been reading this story and commenting from the very beginning. I am glad to have you back once again because it's sad to lose someone who has been there from the inception of this story. In fact, all of you who read this story are part of what it has become. For me it's not just writing but rather this two way exchange that I enjoy so much.

With that said, I'm off. Reviews and all that nice stuff is appreciated as always :)


	23. Assembling The Crew

**Assembling The Crew**

It's here! It's finally here! SPRING BREAK IS HERE! Now if I can get to revising for my exams...

Yeah, spring break always turns out to be a hectic mess for me since it's the time to prepare for the metric ton of exams that are incoming just following it. Nonetheless, a break is a break and that's a good thing. So in celebration, here's the next chapter. I hope everyone else has a good holiday as well :)

* * *

"WHOA!" Naruto's eyes widened from the assortment of food items that was present in front of him.

"No need to act modest." Hiashi said showing him his seat. "We would have liked to prepare a meal suited for the hokage; even more so as it is the first time you are having a meal with the Hyuga. Unfortunately since the proposal came out of the blue as did the decision for the wedding, we weren't able to get enough preparations done even though it was just breakfast. Not to mention a certain someone's insistence on preparing this whole meal on their own."

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto looked over at Hiashi dumbfounded. "I have never seen this much food for breakfast ever before in my life. This is crazy. All I eat are just some cereals or instant ramen, but this here is a cuisine."

"Surely you jest." Hiashi said disbelievingly. "Those can't be called food."

"Hey, what's that mean?" Naruto asked in an irritated tone; he didn't like it when someone insulted ramen. "That is all the vitality I need."

All four all them sat down at the same time and initiated what seemed to Naruto like a breakfast ceremony. Naruto started off with the miso soup as that was one of the only items he recognised among all that were presented. He especially had no clue of the vegetable related offerings that were on the table, as well as the way the fish and meat were processed and cooked.

"So if you have ramen for breakfast, what do you eat for lunch?" Hanabi asked somewhat curious of how uneasy Naruto was acting in picking out his food.

"I eat ramen for lunch too." Naruto replied casually.

"You are joking right?" Hanabi didn't know what else to say.

"Then what about dinner?" Hiashi asked believing in his mind that there was going to be a satisfactory answer. "Surely you must eat SOME proper food."

"Of course I eat ramen for dinner as well." Naruto replied once again taking a sip of the miso soup.

Both Hiashi and Hanabi looked at each other in awe. They were just lost for words. On the other hand Hinata was looking fiercely at Naruto's plate, which remained empty besides the bowl of soup next to it. She desperately wanted him to try out all the food items she had prepared for him, but didn't know how she'd go about making such an event possible in the presence of her family members. Fortunately for her, Hanabi had seen her wake up extra early before everyone else at the compound to prepare as much food as she could for Naruto. So Hanabi made her move.

"Look hokage-sama, you can't just have miso for breakfast." Hanabi picked up a large meatball and a sizeable fried fish and forced them on to Naruto's plate, who was reluctant on eating anything he couldn't recognise. "Give those a try and see how you like them."

At first he was going to make some excuse to avoid eating them but he felt a very intense stare from Hinata sitting opposite to him. In fact she was staring so hard the veins around her eyes almost started popping up even though she didn't have her Byakugan activated. He felt a glare coming from Hiashi as well while Hanabi looked like she was going to shove the food down his throat if he refused. So with no options left, he took the meatball and put it in his mouth, ready to swallow it whole if necessary. But as soon as the sweet and sour flavours hit his taste buds a shiver ran down his body to indicate how good it was.

"WOW…just…wow." Tears started to roll down Naruto's eyes as he started to gobble up meatball after meatball making his mouth resemble a balloon. He just couldn't get enough.

"Guess he really likes them." Hanabi commented. "Now try out that fish. It's deboned so you don't have to worry about going through any troubles."

Naruto couldn't talk because his mouth was stacked but he recognised what the person next to him was saying and dropped the entire fish into his mouth. This time the perfect balance of salt and spices made his eyes shoot wide open. He desperately chewed on the food as though it was the last meal of his life before finally managing to swallow everything he had staked his claim upon.

"Amazing. This is simply amazing." Naruto took deep breaths while sipping down a glass of water. "I have never had anything this good before."

Hinata's worries evaporated as she gave a huge sigh of relief. Naruto's reaction was more than she could have hoped for. It seemed that all her efforts were not in vain.

"Glad you like it because sis over there woke up before everyone else to prepare the whole meal for you." Hanabi explained.

"Ha-hanabi!" Hinata gasped in surprise. "You don't have to tell him."

"You made all this Hinata-chan?" Naruto looked at all the food that was on the table and back at Hinata with awe, who was currently trying to avert her gaze from him. "Not to mention, you went to bed really late as well."

"I-it was n-nothing. I just w-woke up a b-bit earlier than usual." Hinata replied while fiddling her two thumbs.

"I think I'm in love." Naruto said while taking another bite. "In love with your cooking."

"Hear that sis?" Hanabi teased her elder sister. "As for you Naruto-san, you are sorted because sis is a master chef. What you see here isn't even a considerable fraction of her entire repertoire of cooking aptitude."

"I'm n-not that g-good." Hinata tried to show modesty as always.

"Hinata-chan you mean I can have such delicious food every day?" Naruto now looked at Hinata like a kid who was looking at his mom for a toy.

"Of course." Hinata replied back with firmly. "I c-can make you w-what you enjoy the most."

"YOSH-SHA!" Naruto hollered in joy.

"Now Naruto-san, I think it's about time you tried out the Hyuga's specialty: the mixed vegetable dish." Hanabi pointed towards a colourful looking bowl right at the middle of the table.

"No way." Naruto denied her outright. "I freaking hate vegetables."

At his words though, the atmosphere in the room instantly became heavy as a dark aura started emanating from the three Hyuga around him.

"W-What's the m-matter?" Naruto stuttered, recoiling backward towards the wall somewhat in uneasiness.

"No one…and I mean NO ONE ever has a meal with us and leaves without trying our specialty." Hiashi stated in a deadly serious tone. "Get em Hanabi."

"Got em." Hanabi replied as she grabbed on to Naruto's right hand while Hiashi grabbed on to his left, trapping him from both sides. "Now sis, this is your chance."

With Hinata's ninja reflexes she picked up several pieces of vegetables with her chopsticks and appeared in front of him in a moment's notice.

"You can't do this to me." Naruto screamed in fear. "I am your hokage and I refuse to eat vegetables."

"I am sorry Naruto-kun, but there are some things a Hyuga needs to do and this is one of them." Hinata stated in a similar tone to her father. "Plus this is for your own good."

Hinata brought the food near to him but he flailed his face around and kept his mouth shut in refusal. Yuhi was sitting there all this time watching the commotion un-amused. To her all this seemed rather normal.

"Why aren't you eating the vegetable mix daddy?" She asked out of curiosity. "It's your favourite."

"I refuse to believe that." Naruto cried out. "There is no way those green things can be my favourite."

"You won't know until you try." Hanabi quickly jabbed Naruto in the abdomen causing him to open his mouth gasping for air.

This finally presented Hinata with her opportunity and she wasted no time. With one quick motion she placed the food in his mouth.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*crunch crunch munch munch*This actually isn't too bad." Naruto gave a surprised look to his captors. "I never thought a vegetable dish could be this good."

As the two let go he picked up the bowl of food and started chowing down like there was no tomorrow.

"I could really get used to this." Naruto's expression did a complete 180 from moments ago. "I never knew these green round thingies tasted so good. You are a genius Hinata-chan for managing to cook something like this."

"Is he really our hokage?" Hanabi asked her father, somewhat worried. "Someone who frets over eating vegetables."

"It would appear so." Hiashi answered with a sigh. "At the very least, it seems his eating habits have a bright future. You have much lying on your shoulders daughter."

"I will do my best." Hinata said with determination.

After having a finished breakfast, the five of them headed towards Naruto's home where they were going to meet up with the rest.

"Why did you tag along again?" Naruto looked at Hanabi wryly as he pulled out his keys to open the door.

"Of course because I want to see the future too." Hanabi replied back diligently.

"Only Hinata-chan was meant to come and now her whole family's here. How the heck did that happen?" He asked himself in his confusion.

"Don't sweat the small details." Hanabi gestured. "Let's go in."

The house itself was the same as the future counterpart, but the belongings and layout were quite different. This apparent change made Yuhi propose the obvious question.

"Why is everything so different?" She asked looking at Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto kicked himself in his mind for not realising this incoming query beforehand.

"We had a bit of an overhaul overnight." Hinata replied hoping she would buy the excuse.

"But why?" She still looked somewhat confused and annoyed at the fact that almost everything she was accustomed to was gone. "All our things…"

"It was one of daddy's silly whims." Naruto said jokingly.

Yuhi was unimpressed but jumped on to the sofa in the living room nonetheless and started bouncing around playfully.

"This house…it's just as I saw it so many years ago." Hiashi stated looking around. "I am quite surprised it has aged so well."

"You know of this house?" Hanabi asked her father in surprise.

"Indeed. Your mother and Naruto's mother were very close friends. As such there have been a handful of times where I was also invited by Minato-san and Kushina-san for certain occasions." Hiashi reminisced.

"Who would have thought such was the case?" Hanabi looked over from Hiashi to Naruto. "So how come you got this house only now?"

"Well it was the same reason why my heritage was kept a secret, so that I wouldn't be hunted down by enemies." Naruto explained. "But since I became Hokage, grandma Tsunade gave me this house telling me it was finally time for me to move out of that small apartment. Not that I had any problems with staying in my old place, but I suppose given the current situation, that place wouldn't have been feasible for two people."

"I wouldn't mind e-even if we had j-just a room to l-live in." Hinata quickly reconciled thinking about the merits of living with Naruto in a smaller facility.

"I appreciate your kindness but I couldn't do that. To bring you from arguably Konoha's best living quarters to a small apartment seems a bit extreme. Not that this house compares to the Hyuga compound in the first place though."

"NO!" Hinata half shouted. "I think this house is beautiful, especially given it is from your parents."

"Thank you." Naruto was humbled that someone understood his own feelings. "This place is indeed invaluable to me since it reminds me of my parents and the family life I could have spent."

"I'm sure we can re-create those lost days." Hinata said looking over from Naruto to Yuhi, who was running around like a hurricane all over the place.

Naruto couldn't help but smile. It seemed like his future was going to be bright after all. He would no longer fear loneliness.

"Aheem." Hiashi coughed alerting the two of their presence.

"I'm glad you two are having a moment and all, but we are here too you know." Hanabi said teasingly.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I guess the others are here." Naruto walked over to the door and opened it. To his surprise it was none other than Konohamaru standing in front of him.

"YO Naruto-niisan!" Konohamaru greeted.

"What you are doing here Konohamaru?" Naruto asked.

"I heard you got a new house and so I came to check it out."

"I see but talk about timing."

"Who is it Naruto-san?" Hanabi walked towards the doorway and her eyes widened seeing the new visitor. "YOU!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Konohamaru angrily pointed at Hanabi with his index finger.

"What am I doing here? I should be asking you the same thing." Hanabi replied just as angrily. "How about you get lost from here? Or better yet, how about you GET LOST FROM MY LIFE?"

"How about YOU get lost from MY life you traitor?" Konohamaru growled. "You left me…you left me for good…and I thought I was going to die without you."

Naruto who was standing backed up against the wall from all the commotion didn't know why these two were going at each other. But now he was taken aback by this new development. Maybe Konohamaru and Hanabi were…

"YOU LEFT ME FOR DEAD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT WHILE A SANDSTORM WAS BREWING!" Konohamaru accused, fuming with rage.

And Naruto's guess was all wrong.

"That's what you get for being a pest and underestimating the Hyuga." Hanabi gave a cynical smirk. "You are an annoyance who keeps going on and on about how the Sarutobi are the greatest in Konoha, but now you see that in front the Hyuga you are nothing."

"That was the whole point of you being on that mission. You were there to provide back up and show the way through the desert. Just because you have those eyes doesn't make you the best. You are still insignificant in front of the Sarutobi." Konohamaru bragged.

"Yeah? Then see how significant THIS is!" Hanabi stomped on Konohamaru's foot with all her might.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! My toe, my beautiful little toe." Konohamaru held his injured leg with his hands while jumping around one-legged in circles.

"Serves you right." Hanabi snickered at her adversary.

"That's it! That's the last straw! You'll pay for this!" Konohamaru declared as he finally recovered from the previous assault.

"Then let's settle this for good. BRING IT!" Hanabi took her own stance.

The two jumped at each other only to be stopped just before they were about to collide. Naruto had grabbed a hold of Konohamaru and dragged him backwards while Hinata did the same for Hanabi.

"Let me go Naruto-niisan. She needs to know her place." Konohamaru struggled to get out of Naruto's hold.

"Let me go sis. I need to teach this kid a lesson since he didn't learn it the first time." Hanabi struggled as well to set herself free but Hinata did her best to keep her sister in check.

Even though the two were not engaged in mortal combat, sparks flew all over the place from the glares they were giving each other. The situation seemed to be getting out of control by the second. At that point, Yuhi came in to join the fray.

"Konohamaru-niisan!" She yelled in excitement, making a quick jump and sitting firmly on his shoulders.

"Niisan?" Konohamaru questioned pointing at himself. "I didn't know I had a little sister. How could my parents hide such a fact from me?"

"They haven't been hiding anything." Naruto sighed letting go of his younger friend. "This girl right here is my future daughter."

After some explaining, everyone was seated in the living room without too much animosity going around since Konohamaru was much more interested in the girl residing on his shoulder at the time being.

"You serious bro?" He asked finding the explanation hard to believe. "You aren't just playing with me are you?"

"Do I look like the kind of guy who would be joking?" Naruto asked back.

"Yeah…" Konohamaru responded apathetically.

"Okay maybe so but I'm serious this time." Naruto argued his case.

"So this is your daughter." Konohamaru looked up at the girl who was smiling back at him. "She certainly looks the part. But you married a Hyuga? Don't know if that was such a great idea given their elitist attitude."

"I'm n-not like that." Hinata also argued her case.

"Is that so?" Konohamaru felt a bit guilty seeing Hinata's reaction, as though he was picking on her. "I'm sorry if I came off as harsh. It's just the image of the Hyuga I've conjured up from a certain someone I know."

"You wanna go?" Hanabi's nerve had been struck once again by the last remark.

"I'm always ready to go." Konohamaru prepared himself as sparks started flying once again.

"Why are you two fighting?" Yuhi questioned in a confounded tone. "You aren't like that always."

At the same time, the doorbell rang once again and Naruto made his way to open the door once again.

"What does that mean?" Konohamaru asked at Yuhi's previous statement.

Before he could get his answer, Yuhi had already jumped off him and charged towards the person who just entered the living room. It was none other than Kakashi Hatake. Yuhi bounced all around the place landing an assortment of punches and kicks at the Jounin, which caused him in turn to move around the room to dodge the incoming hits even though he didn't know what exactly he did that caused this assault in the first place. After the skirmish went on for a while as everyone in the room watched in awe, Yuhi finally found an opening and extended her hand towards Kakashi's face, but Kakashi's reflexes allowed him to quickly push her hand away and sidestep aside several feet to safety.

"I don't think there is any doubt left in my mind that she is indeed your daughter Naruto. I suppose what Sakura told me was the real deal." Kakashi looked over to Naruto and Sakura standing in the audience.

"You got away again." Yuhi punched the ground in disappointment. "But I will find out what's behind that mask of yours one day. And Sakumo's too."

Kakashi was taken aback by the name she mentioned. He wondered how this girl could know about his father despite being from the future.

"What's going on here?" Shikamaru asked walking in.

"Is that the girl?" The person beside him inquired and that person was Temari from the Hidden Sand village.

"Yup that's her alright." Ino replied, who came in with the two.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked the newest member of the congregation.

"Gaara sent me here on some work related stuff, but since it was weekend I thought I'd take a little break for the time being before meeting you. But then Shikamaru who had come to pick me up told me all about what was going on and I couldn't help but join in on the memory viewing session." Temari gave her explanation.

"I see. I guess one more person won't hurt, will it?" Naruto looked over to Ino.

"Oh no it'll be fine. There's no person limitation to the jutsu." Ino gestured with her hand to tell him not to worry.

Before long everyone arrived at Naruto's house and the living room was as lively as it had ever been. Last to arrive to the gathering was Sasuke.

"Didn't think you would be coming with your own free will." Naruto said jokingly to his old friend.

"I just didn't have anything to do this morning, so I thought I'd burn some time." Sasuke didn't want to tell Naruto that he was interested in this development, but Naruto knew nonetheless.

"Hai hai." Naruto gestured for him to come in as he shut the door behind them.

He gave them all a quick tour to show off his new abode, after which they were all seated in the living room once more.

"Since everyone's here, let's continue from where we left off shall we?" Naruto asked everyone, to which he got a collaborative "YEAH".

"Awesome, then let's begin the memory viewing." Ino once again made a few handsigns, causing all the people in the room to move into Yuhi's mindspace.

* * *

So in the past few chapters, you guys were all awesome and suggested some great new additions in viewing the memories. Thanks for all of your feedback. I took them all into consideration and chose the five that I thought would fit the situation the best. And hence we have Hiashi, Hanabi, Konohamaru, Kakashi and Temari joining. Things should be more fun with them around.

Anyway, my hope is to write at least a couple of chapters in this break. As for next chapter: I shall introduce you all to Yuhi's genin teammates. So until next time, stay classy :)


	24. Engagement of a Lifetime

**Engagement of a Lifetime**

A quick update. This time, we go back to viewing memories once again :)

* * *

Once again, they were standing on top of the glassy surface, surrounded by countless screens to their left and right. Interestingly enough, Ino had brought them in front of the stairway that previously appeared at the horizon.

"Whoa, this place is HUGE!" Konohamaru did circles in position, mesmerised by the sheer scope of the place. "What are all these screens and this stairway?"

"Ah yes, this is your first time." Ino acknowledged. "Those screens all show Yuhi-chan's memories and the stairs separate her memories by years. This floor has all her memories from when she was 5 years old and once we move up those stairs, we will be able to see all her memories from when she was 6. So let's head up there."

Following her lead, everyone started walking up the stairway until they reached the next floor, which seemed exactly the same as the last floor except in the horizon, some form of dark aura shrouded the top of the stairway to the next floor, which would lead on to the most recent memories of Yuhi's seventh year.

Looking at the darkness, Naruto's head started to feel light as he heard some kind of an echo. Eventually after a few seconds, the echo became clearer and he could hear a voice within his mind.

"_It is time you make your choice Uzumaki Naruto." A deep dark voice stated in a sinister tone. "Will you be the hokage that will protect the entirety of Konoha and its residents, or will you be the father that will protect his precious daughter?"_

"_I…Yuhi!" Naruto heard his own reply. This voice most definitely belonged to his future counterpart which he had been watching in all the memories so far._

Suddenly he was broken out of his daze by Hinata shaking him by the shoulders.

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun." She cried out shaking him with all her might. "Are you okay?"

"Hinata-chan…y-yea I'm okay." He replied back trying to not make her worry.

"Are you really? You didn't look too okay right there." Hinata still showed concern.

"Ah it's nothing." Naruto returned back to his normal self. "Just a dizzy spell, that's all."

"Is that so…" She was somewhat relieved by Naruto's exposition, but something still irked her. She decided not to force Naruto though at the moment and accept his reply.

The others who had already moved quite a bit forward called the two to catch up to them.

"What happened you two?" Ino asked with an anxious look.

"It was nothing." Naruto gestured callously.

"I bet they were having some lovey dovey time on their own." Tenten teased.

"Well anyway, I've started looking through this year's memory and I've found one that seems to have some new people." Ino stated excitedly.

"Roll it then." Naruto instructed and with that the memory started playing out.

Yuhi's face looked tense. She took every step with caution until she finally exited the living room unscathed. She was now standing at the stairway, constantly looking left, right, up, down, front and back as though some calamity was going to befall her any second. She took the first step on to the stairway, hugging the wall with her back while still surveying her surroundings with great care. Finally she mustered the courage required to take a second step up, followed by a third and a fourth until eventually she reached the top of the stairway.

Now Yuhi carefully made her way to the entrance of her own room and held the doorknob firmly. After taking a deep breath she pushed the door open in an instant and jumped in doing a somersault, then getting back on to her feet as quickly as possible. She looked around frantically once again but found the room to be completely empty. There was only one last place left to check. Exiting her room, she looked intently at the door to her parents' room, which was wide open. Tiptoeing her way to the door, she peeked in to find that the room was completely empty. She walked in to her surprise not finding her prey here either. She had looked all over the house and didn't find a sign of life anywhere. Frustrated, Yuhi pouted and finally decided she had had enough and activated her Byakugan. But it was too late. She was no longer the predator, but rather the prey.

Naruto had jumped out of the closet next to where Yuhi was standing and grabbed on to her. The two rolled around all over the floor laughing their heart out at their current state.

"That's not fair daddy; I'm meant to be the one seeking and you're meant to be hiding." She complained despite having so much fun. "It's against the rules for you to catch me."

"It's also against the rules for you to use your Byakugan." Naruto playfully squeezed her a little tighter. "Using those eyes beats the whole purpose of playing Hide and Seek."

"How did you know I used the Byakugan?" Yuhi asked looking into her father's eyes.

"I have lived with your mother long enough to be able to tell whenever the Byakugan is activated." Naruto said getting up and pulling Yuhi up with him as well. "You should know that much by now Yuhi."

"Aww I thought I could get a quick glimpse to find you and then deactivate it again." Yuhi frowned.

"Well it was a nice try but not against me. Not to mention, you should be playing by the rules. Just because you have power doesn't mean you just use it unfairly." Naruto said in a semi-serious tone to give Yuhi some important lessons in general. "You understand that little miss?"

"I understand; I won't cheat again." Yuhi also emulated her father's demeanour, indicating that she understood his message.

"Good, then let's play something else." Naruto went back to his cheerful self once again.

It was a weekend at Konoha and as such Naruto was having a day off after quite a hectic week at work. Of all the things he liked to do at his free time, spending time with his family was of the utmost priority. Unfortunately Hinata wasn't present at home today due to having clan matters to attend to and neither would she be back for the rest of the day. This left Naruto and Yuhi by themselves and as such Naruto was playing some silly games with her in the morning right after having breakfast.

"It's kind of lonely without having mommy around." Yuhi said with a sad tinge in her tone while playing thumb war with her father.

"You felt the same way huh?" Naruto asked while skilfully evading his thumb from Yuhi's countless attempts at capturing it. "There's just no warm feeling at home without your mother."

"Home just doesn't feel home without mommy." Yuhi concurred while still keeping her offensive pressure up.

"It's like the life has been drained from this house." Naruto conveyed his honest feelings in words. "How about we go out?"

"Let's, let's." Yuhi got excited and started to really go for the win. "But where do we go?"

"Hmmm, good question." Naruto thought hard for a second and found his answer. "I have never shown you where I used to live before I came into his house, have I?"

"No." She replied.

"Then let's go there." Naruto deliberately made a bad attempt at capturing his daughter's thumb just so she could easily dodge it and capture his thumb in return and win the game.

"I did it; I beat you daddy." Yuhi cheered bouncing up and down on her parents' bed.

"Well done. You won through valiant effort. Always do your best in everything." Naruto gently patted her on the head. "So what do you say; wanna go see my old house? You can meet a special person there as well."

"Who is it? I want to go." Yuhi was on the edge of her seat at this point.

"Then let's not waste any time." Naruto jumped off the bed like the ninja he was. "You will meet the person once we get there."

Yuhi got up on Naruto's shoulder and pointed towards the nearest window. The next second, the two had disappeared through that very window. With Naruto being the fastest ninja in Konoha, within a minute they were standing in front of Naruto's old apartment house.

After the invasion of Konoha by Pain, his previous apartment complex was completely destroyed, which took a while to rebuild. Once rebuilt though, the state of it was a lot better than it previously was. In fact it retained most of its previous architecture, but actually looked half decent to the eye, at least from the outside.

"Well I guess we could go in through the balcony, but let's take the normal route today and go through the front entrance." Naruto remarked, setting his daughter down beside him.

The two walked in through the entrance and went up the staircase until they reached the second floor. An overwhelming feeling of nostalgia swept over Naruto as he took the usual turn to reach the front of an apartment door.

"This is it Yuhi. Although it's not exactly the same as it used to be back then, this is still where I used to live many years ago." Naruto said proudly.

"Let's go in and meet whoever lives there." Yuhi was visibly excited to see whoever her father wanted to introduce to her.

Naruto knocked on the door a couple of times and waited for a while, but there was no answer. He knocked again and again, no answer. He knocked a bit louder a third time but once again got no response.

"I guess they're no here." Yuhi gave a somewhat dejected look at her father.

"No, I think the person is there." Naruto pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. For some reason, he kept Yuhi back with one hand as he put his back against the wall right next to the door. He peeked his head out of the corner to just barely be able to see inside the house. Due to its small architecture, the door led straight into the living room which seemed to be clear. But still as a precautionary action Naruto threw in a shuriken to check for any reactions. Once again though, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. After much deliberation, Naruto finally decided he would walk in keeping his daughter behind him. But as soon as he took the first step: SPLAT! An egg had hit him square in the face.

A kid with spiky orange hair and greenish light brown eyes was laughing hysterically with a slingshot at hand.

"HAAAH! Hokage, you fell for the oldest trick in the book: THE SLINGSHOT!" The child rolled around on the floor laughing.

"MEN-MA!" Venom could be felt pouring from Naruto's voice as he wiped the egg yolk off his face. "Come over here; I dare you. NO I DOUBLE DARE YOU!"

"As if." Menma jumped off in a different direction as Naruto made a dash towards him.

The little guy hopped around the house like a rabbit as Yuhi watched in awe. She didn't know what but from the moment she saw him she felt something different about him. She just couldn't say what it was, but it made her heart race.

Naruto chased Menma around the entire house which was littered with ramen cups all over the floor. Eventually Menma set foot on one such cup which led him to slip and trip on his backside unceremoniously. Naruto couldn't help but facepalm at the epic failure that was induced by Menma. He could only just extend his hand and help the kid up, because after all, he was the closest thing to a parent the boy had.

Menma was about the same age as Yuhi whose lineage was completely unknown. One day, during a trip from a meeting in the Hidden Stone Village, Naruto found an abandoned new born child at one of the mountain ranges on his way back. He searched high and low for the parents of the child but there were no human beings in sight since the area was completely uninhabited. Finally having no other options left, he carried the child back with him to Konoha where he admitted him at the orphanage for kids whose parents had gone missing or passed away during missions. Having been an orphan himself, Naruto knew all too well the pains children had to go through to live their lives without their parents to support them. As such he spent much of his personal time and resources in catering to and taking care of all such children in Konoha. Among all of those children though, Menma was special to Naruto, firstly because he himself had found and named the boy. Before Naruto and Hinata had their first child, they thought of two names, one male and one female to give their child once he or she would be born. Since their child was a female, they gave her the female name Yuhi. Very soon after when Naruto found the little boy, he gave him the name that he intended for his own child if that child happened to be a male. And that name was Menma.

Even more so, Naruto saw in Menma much of himself. The way Menma had similar spiky hair and the state in which he was born never knowing his parents or lineage. Although not nearly as bad as Naruto, Menma was also not someone who was accepted readily among all the villagers. Despite Naruto's attempts in trying to make him always be part of Konoha, the truth that he was an outsider was a fact that he was reminded commonly. Despite caring for him, Naruto never wanted to lie to him about his origin, because that would in turn cause him even more pain later on in life when he would inevitably find out that his true parents were nowhere to be found. As such he let the truth be manifestly clear. Unfortunately, a handful of other children treated him as somewhat of an outcast, one that they saw as not one of their own because he wasn't from Konoha, mainly due to the mindset their parents held, which was only slowly changing given the many years of animosity between the villages before the ninja alliance took place. This was compounded by the fact that Menma was somewhat of a prankster by nature, which made him an eyesore to many people. But just like Naruto, Menma also wanted to someday prove to the villagers that he belonged with them, to become widely accepted as a hero and he worked hard unyieldingly to accomplish that dream. Also like Naruto, Menma wished to move in on his own where he could live in peace. Although at first Naruto found the prospect ridiculous, but eventually he decided positively on it at his sixth birthday, giving him his old apartment to live in. Naruto made sure that Menma didn't have any problems with food and housekeeping as there was always someone who visited him frequently to take care of those aspects, as well as Naruto himself paying him visits every so often.

"You've been eating ramen all day again haven't you?" Naruto picked up all the ramen cups that covered the floor and put them in the trash can. "Do you eat the food that is delivered to you every day?"

"Those food suck; I hate vegetables." Menma brought out his tongue to express his distaste. "Ramen is all I need."

"Ano-na, I know ramen is really tasty and all but you can't JUST eat ramen. It's not good for your health to eat only ramen." He felt somewhat hypocritical for saying so but he needed to do so nonetheless as a responsible adult.

"Whatever man, I eat what I want." Menma rejected defiantly until finally his attention fell on the newest the visitor, the girl he had never seen before. "Who is she?"

"Oh so you finally noticed her huh?" Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the development. "She's my little daughter. So how about you two introduce yourselves."

"Yos-su, nice to meet you. I'm Menma." The boy said enthusiastically with a smile.

Even though Yuhi was one who would talk with others without much restriction, she felt incredibly shy knowing that she had full attention of the boy in front of him. Even though she wanted to share pleasantries, just looking at him made it difficult for words to escape her mouth. Needless to say, she had never felt like this before. Thus instinctively for the first time, she started to twiddle her two index fingers together.

"_Hiiiiieeeeeaaaa, that finger gesture." Naruto flinched from the sight. "Just like Hinata-chan when she was younger."_

"I-I-I a-am Yu-u-h-ii." She barely managed to pronounce her name from the blood rushing to her head.

"Sorry can you speak up; I can't hear you." Menma gave her a perplexed look.

"Yu-Yuhi." She desperately tried to say again but stuttered.

"Huh?" Menma brought in his face closer to her to decipher whatever she was trying to say.

Seeing his face so close though, Yuhi's face turned a tomato red and for the first time in her life, she lost consciousness and dropped down towards the floor. Luckily for her Naruto had rushed to her position, but even before that Menma had caught her before her head hit the ground. Once she regained her senses, she saw herself on her father's lap who was sprinkling water at her face.

"Yuhi, are you okay?" Naruto asked with a concerned tone because he had never seen her faint before.

"I'm okay daddy." Yuhi replied back in her usual upbeat tone.

"I am very sorry if I did anything wrong." Menma looked very downcast as though he was at fault.

Naruto was about to say something back, but he was cut off by Yuhi who had just got up from his lap.

"It's n-not your f-fault." She finally worked up the courage to reply back while looking straight at his eyes. "A-And it's n-nice to meet you too, Menma-kun."

Naruto was somewhat perplexed by the fact that Yuhi addressed Menma in the way that she did because normally didn't use honorifics for anyone her age. This was the first.

"Hey wait a minute, why are your eyes all white like that?" Menma squinted his own eyes to get a better look at Yuhi since she finally looked at him without averting her gaze. "Don't tell me, you are a Hyuga. I didn't know the hokage was a Hyuga."

"I am not you idiot, her mother is." Naruto said with slight anger in his tone.

"That makes sense. But since you are a Hyuga, you must also be all proud and stuff." Menma showed distaste.

"I-I'm not l-like that." She tried her best to defend herself.

"Don't bother. I've seen the Hyuga before. The adults act like everyone else is inferior to them."

"I'm n-not one o-of them." She continued desperately to prove her innocence.

"You are just trying to feign innocence but in reality you are probably just underestimating me like the rest of them." Menma looked away from her in annoyance.

At this point Yuhi didn't reply any longer which made Menma feel triumphant that he successfully figured out Yuhi's true intentions. It was only when he looked towards her once again that he was proven wrong. Yuhi had dropped down to her knees and tears flowed like streams as she rubbed her eyes.

"EHHHHHHHHH!" Menma backed up in surprise. "Why are you crying?"

"Because y-you said I w-was mean." Yuhi explained in between her tears. "But, but I'm not."

Her tears intensified as she started crying loudly. Now Menma felt horrendously guilty, first for making her faint and now for making her cry. It seemed like nothing was going his way and he was turning out to be the bad guy. He looked around frantically until he finally noticed something that may come to his aid and thus he quickly grabbed it.

"Here Yuhi, I was wrong about you, so please stop crying. I'm sorry." Menma held forward a weird looking plush toy that seemed to be some kind of a cross between a bear and a hamster. "I'll give this to you as an apology."

Yuhi looked at what Menma held in his hand curiously and started to wipe her tears off. "What is it?" She asked.

"This here is my favourite plushie, Bonta-kun." Menma explained. "Here take it."

Yuhi took the medium sized plushie and held it in her arms.

"There's also something cool it can do. Try squeezing its belly." Menma instructed.

Yuhi did as she was told and gave Bonta-kun a tight squeeze, at which it responded with the sound "Fumo-fumo". She squeezed it again and it responded once again with "Fumo-fumo". Yuhi couldn't help but start smiling happily at the toy she held. It was most certainly interesting and even though she had a lot of toys in her possession, the person she received it from made Bonta-kun special.

"Bonta-kun is really cute, but is it r-really okay f-for me to have this?" She asked with a concerned face.

"Of course; I gave it to you didn't I? I'm just glad you seem to like it." Menma smiled back at Yuhi. "And if it makes you happy, then that's all that matters, because you look best when you are smiling."

At his words, Yuhi blushed once again but felt really happy from the compliment. Naruto, who sitting at a nearby seat couldn't help but chuckle inwardly seeing a new friendship take form. He was glad that both Yuhi and Menma were starting to get along, because he cared for both of them wholeheartedly.

The moment between Yuhi and Menma was broken suddenly by a new boy who appeared through the window in the balcony, also the same age as the two. His mouth was covered with a mask leaving only his two eyes visible, which were black in colour. To the right side of his face was an ANBU mask, although it was just a replica. Similarly he also carried a sword sheathed on his back that only looked like the real thing. His spiky hair was mostly a light silver colour but had two peculiar purple patches on either side around his ears.

"Sup dobe?" The boy said apathetically to Menma.

"Sakumo, TEME!" Menma replied fiercely to the question, a spark ignited between the two.

To be continued...

* * *

Anyone starting to see all the parallels? Like between Yuhi and Menma with certain other people? Anyway, next chapter will have even more parallels as we see interactions between Yuhi-Menma-Sakumo. I think at this point everyone knows who Sakumo's father is (Kakashi lol), but can anyone guess who his mother is? The name Sakumo came from the name of Kakashi's father as I explained in the previous chapter.

As an interesting bit of trivia, the name Menma is a bit special in terms of Naruto. I'm sure a lot of you know this but Menma was the name of alternate Naruto in the latest Road to Ninja movie. But even more interestingly, I remember reading an interview of Kishimoto-sensei himself where he said that he originally intended the name "Menma" for Naruto's child if any was ever to be born. That is where I got the name from. Also, Menma's lineage is a bit complex, but I think someday I might elaborate more on it; just not now.

Oh and I REALLY hope someone got the Bonta-kun and Fumo-fumo reference. If not, just type in Bonta-kun in google to see how he looks like. That's it for now. Until next next time...do something...I guess...I can't come up with some cool catchphrase at the moment, so I'll leave it at that.


	25. Return Of The Legendary Sannin

**Return of the Legendary Sannin: Konoha's Yellow Flash, White Fang and Hyperactive Knucklehead**

They say that once in a blue moon, a miracle can happen. But I don't see any blue moons out right now. Although I most confess that I did see an orange coloured moon a few days back. So you can attribute three chapters being posted in the span of one week to that. Enjoy :)

* * *

"Sup dobe?" The boy said apathetically to Menma.

"Sakumo, TEME!" Menma replied angrily to the question, a spark ignited between the two. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to check up on your sorry state." Sakumo snickered under his mask.

"Why I oughta…" Menma rushed towards Sakumo, but before he even got remotely close, the white haired boy had already disappeared with amazing speed.

"Menma no BAKA, BAKA!" Sakumo teased causing Menma to get even more frustrated and a wild goose chase ensued.

"BAKA, BAKA!" Sakumo teased again from another spot in the room and Menma rushed at him.

"BAKA, BAKA!" Once again. And again. And again, until Sakumo landed on an open window sill and Menma collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"Just *pant* stay *pant* there," Menma continued to breath heavily, "and see what happens when I get my hands on you."

"Heh, you are too slow baka-Menma." Sakumo pulled down one of his eyelids to taunt the other boy, but he would soon realise that all of this was a very bad idea.

"Stop…bullying…MENMA-KUN!" Yuhi had already activated her Byakugan and used her air palm technique to send Sakumo soaring through the window with an incredible burst of air.

"OH NO SAKUMO!" Naruto yelled running straight to the window and dolphin diving through it to rescue the boy who was sent flying.

"Why…why did you do that Yuhi-chan?" Menma looked at Yuhi with disbelief and added in some honorifics to not end up in the same state as Sakumo. He couldn't believe how the shy and timid girl showed so much strength and agility.

"B-Because he w-was being mean to y-you Menma-kun." Yuhi fidgeted around in place feeling better at having come to Menma's aid.

"Umm Yuhi, I know it may have seemed like Sakumo was picking on me, but that's just how we are. Although we seem to be going at each other all the time, but in reality he is one of the rarest people who truly accepts me for who I am. In fact, although I wouldn't acknowledge this in front of anyone else, but I will tell you that I think of Sakumo as a brother that I never had." Menma explained sincerely.

"I-Is that so?" Yuhi was surprised by knowing Menma's perspective.

"Yeah, so you don't have to be harsh to Sakumo." Menma requested with a smile. "But thank you for showing concern for me anyway."

Yuhi blushed once again hearing Menma's appreciation. At this point Naruto jumped in through the window carrying Sakumo, who he let down once they safely into the room.

"Alright little girl, it's time you apologise for what you have just done." Naruto said unusually sternly to his daughter. "He could have been majorly injured right there."

"But daddy, I was…"

"No BUTS!" Naruto cut her off instantly. "You will apologise right now, unless you want me to tell your mommy about this."

Yuhi jumped up in shock from the mention of her mother. If there was one person in the entire village who she wished wouldn't find out about this incident, then it would have to be her mother.

"No, please don't tell mommy." Yuhi pleaded to her father.

"Then you know what to do." Naruto said with a serious look. "And I want to you not only say sorry but also recognise what you did wrong."

Yuhi was downcast initially but when she took one quick glance at Menma, he gave her a reassuring smile and said, "I support you, so go on Yuhi."

This made her feel a lot better and gave her enough resolve to get it over with.

"I'm sorry Sakumo." Yuhi apologised looking downwards. "I shouldn't have hit you like that."

"Ah never mind that Yuhi-chan; I guess it was also my fault for being harsh." Sakumo replied to her. "I hope we can still be friends though."

Sakumo had known Yuhi for a bit longer in the few occasions their parents got together. Needless to say, of all the girls he saw, Yuhi was different to him. Just having a conversation with her made him feel uneasy, in a good kind of way, and the last thing he wanted was to destroy whatever little friendship he had with her.

"Well it seems like all is good." Naruto returned back to his usual cheerful self. "So how about we all go to Ichiraku's to celebrate the newfound friendship between the three of you?"

"YEAH!" Both Yuhi and Menma shouted at the same time. Sakumo didn't care as much for the ramen, but if it meant more time in Yuhi's vicinity, then things couldn't be all bad.

"You like ramen too?" Menma looked at Yuhi with excitement.

"Y-Yea, I love ramen." Yuhi concurred.

"That's AWESOME! I'm glad there is another ramen admirer of my same age." Menma hollered in joy. "Let's move out."

Five minutes later, the four of them arrived at Ichiraku after taking a leisurely stroll. They took their usual special seats right in front of the hosts of Ichiraku, Teuchi and Ayame given that Ichiraku had grown many times its previous size. But for Naruto, his old space was always reserved for him.

"Whoa, what do we have here today? Some young'uns tagging along with Naruto?" Teuchi greeted spiritedly.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen." Both Yuhi and Menma started to pound at the table in front of them in anticipation.

"You heard them old man. The ramen monsters are here to devour food." Naruto licked his lips to indicate he too was not to be left out.

"I like that name. We should call ourselves the ramen monsters from now on." Menma extended his hand to do a group call. Both Naruto and Yuhi joined in immediately but Sakumo backed up a little, which got him weird looks from the rest.

"I think I'll pass; I'm not that big of a ramen fan anyway." He explained.

"Well whatever, your loss." Menma shrugged. "For the rest of us, in 3…..2…..1…..RAMEN FOR THE WIN!"

Both Yuhi and Naruto shouted with him in response making the store as lively as ever. Within a few minutes, everyone was served ramen and they were about to begin eating, but something caught the attention of Menma, Yuhi and Naruto.

"Hey guys, check it out." Menma whispered to Naruto and Yuhi. "Sakumo's gonna eat, which means he will have to take off his mask. You know what that means right?"

"OHHHHH!" Yuhi reeled in excitement. "We can finally see what's under that mask."

"That's right." Menma giggled as the three observed Sakumo like hawks, not letting him out of their sights for even a millisecond. "Watch carefully because any second now…"

Sure enough, Sakumo wrapped a bunch of noodles on his chopsticks and brought it close to his mouth.

"OH MY!" Both Yuhi and Menma grabbed on to Naruto in excitement, who himself wrapped them in a hug from both sides in anticipation of what would appear next.

And the next moment, Sakumo pulled his mask down and put the noodles in his mouth. At the vision, Naruto, Yuhi and Sakumo all tripped over backwards from their chairs and crashed unceremoniously on to the ground.

"WHAT THE HECK DUDE?" Menma angrily pointed at Sakumo picking himself back up.

"What's wrong?" Sakumo asked without realising what he was being accused for.

"Who wears a mask under a mask?" Menma complained in frustration. Under Sakumo's mask, he was wearing another mask with a slit where his mouth was, so that he could put food through without letting his mouth face be unveiled.

"Still up to the old tricks I see, eh Naruto?" Kakashi said walking into the ramen stand. With him came a woman with long purple hair, Yugao Uzuki.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto jumped up slightly in surprise. "And Yugao-san. Haven't seen you guys in a while."

"Nice to meet you here hokage-sama." Yugao greeted courteously since Naruto was her boss, so to speak. Kakashi and Yugao took the empty seats next to Sakumo.

"Since we are here, might as well grab some ramen, what do you say?" Kakashi asked the woman next to him.

"Yes of course, I haven't had ramen in a while." Yugao answered happily.

"Alright then, Teuchi-san, bring on some ramen." Kakashi ordered.

"Ramen comin' right up." The old man shouted back from inside, where he was preparing the noodles.

"So sensei, spending some quality time with your wife I see." Naruto stated with a wide grin on his face.

"I suppose you could say." Kakashi replied.

"The weather today was so nice and we were both free, so we thought we would go out and refresh ourselves." Yugao stated calmly. "So what are you doing here with all the children hokage-sama?"

"You know, you don't have to call me hokage-sama. We aren't even at work." Naruto said slurping down an entire down of noodles. "Just call me Naruto."

"But I couldn't do that." Yugao waved her hands around. "You are our leader and it would be disrespectful to address you by your name directly."

"No buts…unless you want me to make that an order."

"Yugao, just do what he says; you can't win with him." Kakashi laughed at Naruto's response.

"Alright then, I'll address you as Naruto." Yugao sighed.

"That's awesome. I took Yuhi to pay Menma a visit. I suppose Sakumo had the same idea as well and so we decided to come get some ramen." Naruto slurped down the replacement bowl Teuchi gave him just a minute ago.

"Oh so when Sakumo mentioned he was going to visit a friend, he meant Menma." Yugao smiled at the new revelation.

"MOTHER! It's not like that." Sakumo was audibly taken back.

"Hai hai." Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at his son's demeanour. "But it's nice to see Yuhi, Menma and Sakumo getting to know each together. They are the same age after all."

"You know, now that you mention it, you are right." Naruto looked at the kids around him while waiting for his next bowl. "It would indeed be quite awesome if they were to become teammates."

Little did Naruto know that the three would indeed become genin teammates in the future.

"Uggh, I don't want to be on the same team as him." Both Menma and Sakumo said at the same time, gagging at the idea.

On the other hand, Yuhi started poking her index fingers together. She definitely welcomed the idea of being in the same team as Menma.

"But who would be their instructor?" Kakashi asked, thinking hard on who could possibly handle all three of them.

"Hmmmm….AHHHHH!" Inspiration struck Naruto.

"_Kehehehehehehehe." Naruto crackled inside his own mind. "I know just the guy."_

On the other side of the village, Sasuke Uchiha sneezed as loudly as he ever had before. For some reason he felt that someone was thinking about him.

"Who is it?" Yugao asked.

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure we would find someone if the situation arose." He decided to keep his idea to himself for now.

"Actually, since the kids are here, let's hear about their future plans." Yugao clasped her hands in exhilaration.

"OHHH, that's a brilliant idea!" Naruto greatly appreciated Yugao's idea. "Let's start with Sakumo. What do you want to be like when you grow up?"

"I want to be Konoha's White fang, just like my grandfather." Sakumo stated curtly. "Even though I have never met him, I have heard a lot about him and I wish to be somebody strong like him one day."

Everyone gave Sakumo an amazed look knowing about his strong will.

"What about you Yuhi-chan?" Yugao questioned Naruto's daughter.

"I also want to be as amazing as my grandfather." She replied raising one of her hands in the air. "I want to be the next Konoha's yellow flash."

"_Father…Minato-sensei…it seems your wills live on even to this day." Kakashi thought happily._

"That's amazing Yuhi-chan; I'm sure someday you will achieve that dream." Yugao encouraged her.

"And what about you Menma?" Kakashi asked curiously.

To his question though, Menma looked downcast because he didn't know who his own parents were, let alone his lineage.

"I don't have an epic moniker to aim for." Menma said looking down. Naruto was going to say something in return, but Menma had already regained his drive. He wasn't going to be brought down. "But someday, I want to be hokage."

Everyone couldn't help but look at Menma in awe at his previous statement, especially the similarity of that statement to a certain someone.

"Then I think I know exactly what you can aim to be." Naruto put him palm down on Menma's head. "You can be Konoha's next hyperactive knucklehead."

"WHAT KIND OF A LOSER HAS THAT KIND OF A NICKNAME?" Menma seemed like he was ready to throw up.

"You don't realise who the previous hyperactive knucklehead was, do you Menma?" Kakashi asked out of interest.

"Probably some nobody from the sound of it." Menma shrugged the title off like it was nothing.

"The previous Konoha's hyperactive knucklehead is sitting right next to you." Kakashi pointed to the blond man next to Menma.

"You…are…kidding…me." Menma's ears could not believe what he just heard.

"Yup, I am Konoha's first hyperactive knucklehead and for some reason I felt the title would fit you well." Naruto explained. "But you don't have to accept it if you don't want to."

"No...if it means being like you, then I'll take it." Menma seemed to have a newfound admiration for the title. "I will be the next hyperactive knucklehead of Konoha."

"Baaaa-ka." Sakumo said softly.

"But I also want to be hokage someday." Yuhi stated seriously, looking at her father.

"Don't worry Yuhi, Konoha's yellow flash was also a hokage." Naruto also put his palm on Yuhi's head. "Your grandfather was one of the greatest hokages in the history of the hidden leaf village and a hero at the same time."

"YES!" Yuhi was as restless as ever knowing how great her grandfather was from the one time she met him. "I'll do my best."

"Well, that's that." Kakashi stated. "Let's eat for now."

By the end of their session at Ichiraku, Naruto ate 30 bowls, Menma ate 20 and Yuhi ate 10. Kakashi, Sakumo and Yugao barely managed to finish their one bowl and could only watch in apprehension at the aftermath of the ramen monsters' rampage.

After having lunch, Kakashi said his goodbyes along with his family, leaving Naruto to walk back towards his old apartment with Menma and Yuhi. Once they were close by, Menma turned to Yuhi with a very resolute look.

"Yuhi…I know we just met today but I can already tell that you are really strong, unlike anyone else." Menma professed. "That is why from this day forward, you and I will not only be friends, but we will also be rivals."

"R-Rivals?" Yuhi was surprised at the sudden declaration.

"Yes. Someday when I become strong, and I mean REALLY strong, I want us to have an all-out battle." Menma looked at Yuhi dead straight. "And through that battle, we will decide who will become the next hokage."

Although at first Yuhi was somewhat apprehensive, but now her soul burned ever so brightly from the idea.

"Me too." Yuhi responded, this time without any hold-ups.

She liked Menma, but at the same time she could see his passion, which matched hers inch by inch like nobody else she ever met. As the two stood head to head, she wished for this event to indeed come true someday. And it did.

A fragment of memory unbeknownst to all; this is an event from many years in the future...

***Start of future event* (A/N: They aren't viewing this next part. It's an event from even further into the future.)**

In place of young Yuhi and Menma stood older versions of themselves, both in their twenties.

"Do you remember Yuhi the first time we met many years ago as children?" The older Menma asked. "It seems that we have both become heroes of the hidden leaf village, and we are both in line to become the next hokage. So there is only one way to settle this…it is time we finally had that promised battle."

"Indeed." The older Yuhi nodded. "I h-have been waiting f-for this day."

"So have I." Menma nodded as well. "Show me Yuhi exactly why it is they call you Konoha's Yellow flash."

"And you t-too Menma-kun. Show me the power of Konoha's hyperactive knucklehead." Yuhi replied bringing out a three-pronged kunai.

Both Menma and Yuhi took their respective stances as they prepared to clash.

"LET'S BEGIN!" The two shouted at the same time signifying the start of their bout.

Yuhi wasted no time and threw the kunai towards Menma at blinding speed, but Menma saw it coming with his incredible reflexes and ducked down. At this same moment, Yuhi disappeared from the point she was standing and from Menma's field of view, appearing directly overhead where the kunai currently was.

"RASENGAN!" She shouted grabbing on to the kunai and slamming the blue sphere in her hand straight into Menma's back. The technique caused a crater to form as shockwaves spread all across the ground.

As the smoke cleared though, Yuhi only found an unusual heat coming from where Menma should have been. She jumped up to avoid getting burned.

"A LAVA CLONE!" She said in surprise looking at the crater filling up with dark orange lava.

"The fourth hokage's technique; I can see now why you are known as the yellow flash." Menma smiled profusely from a distance away where he re-appeared. "But I am just getting started. Let me show you too, the techniques I have inherited from my mother."

"Lava style (Yoton): Melting Apparition Technique (Yokai no jutsu)" Menma looked directly overhead and spewed an enormous amount of lava into the sky, very much like a volcanic eruption. Peculiarly, the lava only descended down from the sky at a very slow pace.

"_He's blocked off the sky." Yuhi bit her lip at the sight. "At this rate I can't use the kunai to escape upwards."_

Yuhi threw her kunai directly at him once again, disappearing but reappearing on the ground this time to surprise him with two rasengans at hand, but Menma read her move and did a front flip right over her head landing quite a distance away from her.

"Lava style: Quicklime technique" This time Menma expelled a large amount of quicklime from his mouth, covering a huge part of the battlefield including where Yuhi was standing.

This left Yuhi with no choice but to hop up and throw her kunai down into the quicklime and stand on top of it to not get her feet stuck. She could throw the kunai around and teleport but Menma would just spew even more quicklime all over the place, which would only restrict her movements even further. She couldn't go into the air to avoid the technique because of the lava, and neither stay on the ground because of the quicklime. And the kunai was sinking in as well which left her with very little time to act.

"_I need to do something here to get rid of these techniques he used. I could use a water style attack to try and clear out all the lava overhead, but that could end up hardening the quicklime below me while I'm on the ground, which would be very bad. Or I could use many rasengans from the air to blow away the quicklime, but that wouldn't be possible without first getting rid of the lava...UNLESS I CAN USE BOTH!" Suddenly inspiration struck Yuhi as she knew exactly what to do next._

"The techniques you have inherited from your mother are truly amazing, but I too have inherited some amazing skills from my parents." Yuhi brought forth a few clones around her who started to immediately sink into the quicklime, but Yuhi quickly held forward her right hand, clutching it with her left as the clones started to focus on it with their own hands. "This is a new jutsu that is born when I combine the rasengan that I have learned from my father's lineage, with my natural water affinity that I've gained from my mother's lineage."

Menma's eyes widened at the incredible new jutsu that formed in Yuhi's hand. He had never seen anything like it before.

"THIS IS…" Yuhi yelled at the top of her lungs. "WATER STYLE…..."

***End of future event* (A/N: The future event ends here and we are going back to the memory which everyone is viewing.)**

Naruto could only imagine how amazing a battle between Konoha's Yellow flash and hyperactive knucklehead would be.

"Well, I will see you later." Little Menma waved his hand at Naruto and Yuhi as he left for his apartment.

"S-See you M-Menma-kun." Yuhi also waved her hand in response and so did Naruto.

"Should we go home too Yuhi and prepare a surprise for your mother?" Naruto winked at his daughter.

At his suggestion, she jumped back onto her father's shoulder, her favourite spot.

"LET'S GO!" She shouted with all her energy.

The memory ended at that point.

"WHAO!" Sakura screamed as soon as the memory ended. "KAKASHI-SENSEI HAS A KID AND HE MARRIED YUGAO-SAN!"

"I KNOW RIGHT!" Naruto joined in with him. "Man I never thought Kakashi-sensei would ever get married."

"You defied expectations." Even Sasuke joined in, but only for a second. "Interesting."

"Okay, okay, I get it. But me getting married isn't really that anomalous. Me and Yugao have known each other since my time as ANBU, so it's not THAT surprising." Kakashi took the matter more casually than his students.

"Still it is quite amazing to know you did find someone in the end." Sakura added in. "Can't wait to see the two of you get together soon."

"Did anyone else see how Yuhi was acting around Menma?" Tenten pointed to everyone.

"It was like watching Naruto and Hinata all over again." Kiba stated.

"Tell me about it." Ino squealed looking over at Yuhi. "Little Menma and little Yuhi were sooooo cute. If only Naruto and Hinata got to know each other like that when they were children."

"EHHHHH!" Both Naruto and Hinata, who were standing next to each other became flustered and quickly tried to avert their gazes from the others, only to bump into each other's foreheads in the process and tumble down to the floor.

The others couldn't help but laugh at the current scenario.

"It was certainly nice to see that there is a little onee-san somewhere in Yuhi." Hanabi said while looking at Yuhi.

"Yeah, one would have thought Yuhi took after her father from most of the memories we viewed so far." Neji concurred.

"But it would appear that she is indeed the daughter of Hinata after all." Shikamaru chimed in with Neji. "I have to wonder if all the fainting and blushing is a Hyuga bloodline thing."

"IT IS NOT!" Hanabi, Hiashi and Neji shouted their responses at the same time, causing Shikamaru to back up several steps with his hands in the air.

Hinata couldn't help but give her future daughter a hug and whisper into her ears, "Do your best Yuhi, both to become strong and for the one you love."

To which Yuhi happily nodded.

"I guess I should start looking for the next memory." Ino declared to everyone.

"What are you waiting for, a medal?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll get to work." With that Ino started sorting through the countless screens in front of her until she pinpointed one.

* * *

Okay, first of all I apologise for the author's note at the middle of the chapter. I normally don't do this because it can be quite distracting, but I had to in this case to make sure no one got confused by that particular event. As I mentioned then, that particular event was not a memory the present Konoha 12 and the rest were viewing, but rather it's an event that occurs in the future which I included because I thought it would be cool.

Anyway, last chapter's reviews were friggin hilarious. I had a lot of fun reading them because you guys tried to guess who Sakumo's mother was and there were a lot of interesting choices. It seems the greatest response was for Anko, which I actually expected because of her purple-ish hair colour. But the ANBU mask and sword were the hints towards Yugao. Then again, Kakashi was ANBU and he carried a sword around as a child, so I can see why that could have been a bit confusing. After that though, I got some pretty funny guesses. There was Hana (Kiba's sister lol), Yugito (lolwut, she's a jinchuriki, but I think you meant Yugao) and even Rin (lol she's dead). But yeah, in the end quite a few of you also said Yugao, so thanks for all the responses. I had a good laugh.

Also, if you read these past two chapters carefully, you can probably guess who Menma's mother is. His mother is still alive. If you do find out and it doesn't seem to make sense, then don't worry because there is a reason behind it, as well as his father's lineage, which as I said before, I hope to reveal at some other point. So yeah, if you did figure it out, who is Menma's mother?


	26. April Fools: Beginning To The End

**Aprils Fools: Beginning To The End**

This is about to get serious...

* * *

As Ino pinpointed the next memory to view, suddenly a tremendous force shook the entire mindspace as if an earthquake had hit the place. In fact the force was so strong that it broke the jutsu causing everyone to return back to their normal bodies. What they witnessed next though came as an absolute shock.

The roof of the entire house as well as the floor above them had been completely blown off. Looking outside, Konoha was engulfed in gigantic flames as far as the eyes could see. Before anyone could make a move, suddenly from the sky, the dark figure came crashing down in front of them like a meteor.

"Are you the one who did this?" Kiba growled.

"Who are you?" Neji demanded. "Identify yourself."

At this point the dark aura around the figure evaporated leaving a sight that struck fear into the hearts of those who witnessed its true form.

"It can't be!" Hinata cried out in despair.

"This is IMPOSSIBLE!" Naruto fell on his back from the utter fear that overcame his heart.

"BONTA-KUN!" Yuhi gasped in horror. "It was you all along."

"Fumo-fumo!" The life sized plush toy squeaked in an evil tone with a three-pronged kunai at hand.

"This thing was the cause of all this time travel mess?" Kiba asked in disbelief.

"So it would seem." Kakashi said, pulling down his mask in distress and revealing his face. But no one cared. There were far more grave matters in their hands.

"Alright, I think I have devised the perfect strategy with my super genius mind to combat this un-combatable threat in front of us." Shikamaru stated while sweating bullets.

"What is it? Tell us quick before we become mincemeat." Konohamaru begged with all his might.

"RUN FOR YO' LIVES!" Shikamaru shouted while legging it out of the house.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Everyone else followed suit as well.

And they all ran…but it was all for naught.

Bonta-kun proceeded to stab Naruto in the back, gouged Yuhi's eyes out and burned the entirety of Konoha down leaving nothing behind.

Bonta-kun then used his Kunai to return back to his original time where he met up with Menma and high fived him. The two laughed evilly as the fifth Mizukage came out of the shadows and celebrated the occasion with them.

"The plan was a success. I put Menma down on the path that the hokage, Uzumaki Naruto would take. Just as I envisioned, he picked up Menma and brought him into the hidden leaf village, who then essentially acted as a Trojan horse for us to smuggle Bonta-kun in. From there on Bonta-kun would wait for the perfect timing to destroy Konoha from inside out. And destroy it Bonta-kun has. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Mei laughed in the most sinister way possible.

But suddenly Bonta-kun betrayed them and stabbed both Menma and the Mizukage, leaving them for dead. It then proceeded to burn down the Hidden Mist Village, then the Hidden Stone Village, Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Cloud Village.

This day became a mark in the history of the ninja world as the time when the world became shrouded in utter darkness and destruction.

Thus, this day was named…..APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

* * *

I'm sorry. I just had to. Happy April Fools Day everyone. Trololololololol!

Did you fall for it at first or did you know all along?

Anyway, next time I'll be back with a serious chapter. The next chapter is indeed quite different, believe me. So stay tuned and stay well ;)


	27. The One Steeped In Darkness

**The One Steeped In Darkness**

Before we begin, sorry for those who got hard trolled by last chapter. It was quite funny nonetheless.

Anyway, as I said before, this chapter is very different from the regular chapters. In this chapter we are stepping out of the shoes of our protagonists and their memory viewing. Rather we will step into the shoes of our antagonist, the dark figure and see how he's doing. As always I like to shake things up and this should be interesting. Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

While the group in Konoha were busy viewing memories of the future, another person who also arrived from the future was currently located at a distant land.

The forest was bustling with plant and animal life wherever eyes could see. Dense foliage grew due to the sunlight that reached all the way through to ground level and many forms of animals, big and small lived harmoniously within the canopies. But among the forest, there was one entity that did not blend in and looked to be suffering as opposed to being in harmony.

The dark figure currently walked slowly from tree to tree, using them as support so as not to collapse. He could barely even keep his balance and looked as though he would topple over at any instant. Eventually after limping for a long distance the dark figure sat down at the bottom of a gigantic tree, no longer able to carry on. At this point, the dark aura lifted, taking a floating ethereal form of its own and leaving a blond man in its wake.

As soon as the dark aura parted from him, the blond started to cough violently and struggled to even stay seated. His eyes were colourless, an indication of his blindness. He was in tremendous pain and had trouble even breathing properly.

"What are you doing Nemesis?" The blond asked while inhaling air desperately. "I need you to get back inside right now."

The blond man and the ethereal dark form known as "Nemesis" were two separate entities with their own consciousness. When Nemesis possesses the blond, the dark figure is born. In that state where the two are combined, Nemesis provides the blond with many different powers that culminate from the darkness. Nemesis also provides the blond with the eyesight he didn't have and in this instance, reduced the pain he was feeling and supported the broken leg he currently had from Yuhi's final attack. But once Nemesis left his body, the blond was just a blind man who was suffering from tremendous agony, a result of the several continuous cataclysmic battles he had undergone in a very short span of time. The torment that he underwent would cause any man to go insane, but the blond clutched the grass below him and hung on with all his might, determined not to scream and lose himself to the pain.

"I need to leave for the time being." Nemesis said curtly to the blond. "My powers have faded to alarmingly low levels."

"You can't leave me in my current state." It stung him to even talk but he couldn't believe what the dark form was saying to him. "My body is so badly injured and broken that I can't even move an inch."

"Boohoo, spare me the tears." Nemesis stated in an aggravated tone. "I have lost a substantial amount of power myself and I will not be able to regenerate while having to continuously babysit you. Not to mention, these are the results of your rash decisions, so now suffer the consequences. I will be back at a later point once I have recuperated sufficiently."

"You can't…" The blond now dropped to the floor finding it increasingly difficult to breath. "I haven't had any sustenance, no food, and no water for almost two days. At this rate, I just might die, and surely you don't want that to happen to your host."

"Look kid, I've been with you for a very long time now, but I am not in any way obligated to take care of your every need. You are a grown man, so go take care of yourself. I'm off." Finishing the final statement, Nemesis completely disappeared from sight leaving the blond to writhe in agony.

"No…this…is…not…good." The blond whispered trying to force his body up, but the broken right leg brought him straight back down. "I can't see…I can't feel…and my senses are fading…"

Uttering his final words, the blond lost his consciousness.

Many hours passed, after which the blond woke up screaming from a horrible nightmare, completely drenched in sweat. This was by no means anything new. Sleep was never a peaceful event for him. Almost every time he slept, it would be accompanied with horrendous nightmares that would drive a normal man insane. In this instance, once he woke up, he found himself in a small room and not below the giant tree where he passed out. The room itself might have been small, but it was most certainly very well kept with neat wooden interiors and furniture. His leg that was broken was also plastered strongly and a small wet cloth lay on top of his forehead. The bed he was on was also very cosy with just the right temperature, and he was neatly tucked under a thick blanket to increase the warmth. Needless to say, everything combined made his body was feel a lot better than it was previously at the forest.

An old man rushed into the room from hearing his previous scream while waking up.

"What's the matter lad?" The old man asked showing serious concern. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes…" The blond stated looking at his host. "I take it you are the one who brought me here."

"Indeed, but don't worry about thanking me or anything. I found you in critical condition this morning while taking my regular stroll at the forest. I and the other villagers then picked you up and brought you over to my house." The old man explained. "Say young man, what is your name?"

"My name…I am Na" The blond stopped before he revealed his identity, realising that it would probably be better if he didn't say his real name out in public even if he was from the future. At the moment, he tried to sit up on his bed only to find the aching on his broken leg intensify exponentially from the haphazard movement.

"ARRRGH, PAIN!" He screamed in agony.

"Pain?" The old man stated. "That's an odd name, but please don't move yet Pain. Your leg is in very bad condition."

"_Pain" The blond thought carefully. "I suppose that's a good enough alias for now."_

"So where are you from Pain and how did you end up at the forest?" The old man asked inquisitively.

"I…do not remember." Pain lied. "The last thing I recall is passing out in the forest."

"Hmmm, I suppose seeing the injuries you have in your body, that doesn't come as a surprise." The old man nodded. "I wouldn't worry about such things for now."

"Who are you?" Pain asked semi-seriously.

"Oh my, I haven't introduced myself yet have I? This old brain is kind of getting worn out. My name is Bunkichi and I am an elder of this village." The old man gave a warm smile to make him feel comfortable. "You are welcome to stay here with us for as long as it takes for you to get better. Oh and I've also prepared a crutch for you right here to use once you feel a bit better."

Pain decided to close his eyes signifying he required some more rest. The old man also understood from his movements that he was blind, but decided not to bring up the matter. He simple felt bad.

"I shall see you later son." Bunkichi turned around and slowly left the room.

Pain was by himself once again, which left him to ponder how his life ended up where it was as always. He brought his hand up to his face and touched his closed eyelids. He knew that right now what he was seeing was the same thing every other person saw when they closed their eyes: Darkness. Yet when he opened his eyes, nothing changed. He still saw darkness, when most other person would see light. His pain grew inside knowing what was done to him until it finally became too much to take. Any further and he would snap and only end up hurting himself even further. He didn't want to stay in this room any longer because it would cause his mind to drift to that same conclusion once again. So despite his body aching and throbbing tremendously, he pulled himself up off the bed and sat on the nearest corner. He could feel the hard plaster on his broken right leg, keeping it firmly in place for the body to eventually heal the injured lower part of the leg. But despite this, he felt around the side of the bed to get a hold of the crutch the old man had left for him. If only he could find it then perhaps he could make his way out of here. Again this brought his mind back to the fact that if his eyes were functional, then he wouldn't have to go through this trouble, which only fuelled his hatred even more for the person who put him in this predicament.

After painstakingly feeling around for what he sought, he finally found the wooden crutch and stood up using its support. He used the crutch also as a makeshift cane to find his way forward and not to bump into any obstacles in front of him. Eventually, taking his time he finally reached the staircase that lead downstairs. He slowly put one foot down and just as he was about to bring his broken foot down as well, an incredible pain surged from the injured area causing him to lose balance and take a thundering tumble down to the bottom of the staircase.

Every inch of his body throbbed as a result and the blond barely managed to hold in his extreme urge to scream out in distress. The loud noise caused the old man to come running out to the hallway as fast as he could to investigate the cause for the commotion.

"BLESS ME BAGPIPES! What have you done young man, despite your eyesight? You should have called me and I would have helped you to come down." Bunkichi used all the power left in his old body to help Pain up. "Are you okay? Is anything else broke?"

"No…I believe I am still in one piece." Pain acknowledged limping over to the room next door with the help of the old man and sitting down on a kotatsu.

Bunkichi's wife, Mitsuko came running out of the kitchen to see the commotion that was going on.

"OH MY!" She gasped in horror at the site. "Are you alright dear?"

"He'll be fine; he's a strong man after all." Bunkichi laughed it off to try and not give his old wife any more anxiety. "That said let me introduce you to each other. Pain, this is my wife Mitsuko and Mitsuko this is Pain."

"Pain?" She questioned.

"Yeah, this young man goes by the name of Pain."

"I see…well in any case, it's nice to meet you Pain." The woman greeted wholeheartedly.

"Hmm…" Pain just simply looked down at the table.

"Anyway, what made you try to come down in a rush?" Bunkichi asked taking a seat on the opposite side of the Kotatsu.

"Hmm…I require…sustenance." Pain said in a heavy tone.

"Oh my, we must be terrible hosts to not get you food. You must be very hungry after everything that has happened. I'll get something right away." The old lady rushed off to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that. Just give us a moment. Believe me, her cooking's very good." Bunkichi insisted.

Within a few minutes food was served and the couple sat opposite to Pain watching him eat. As Pain took the first bite he could attest to the fact that the old man was not lying.

"This is….good." Pain was not a person who complimented often, but this was a rare occasion.

"I told you so." Bunkichi laughed out loud.

"So Pain, where are you from and how did you get so badly injured?" Mitsuko asked. "I haven't seen you around here before."

"I forgot to tell you but Pain has lost his memory of before he got here." Bunkichi replied to his wife sparing Pain the trouble. "All he seems to know is his name."

"My, that's terrible." She was shocked. "Your family and friends must be looking for you."

"I…..don't think so." Pain unusually replied to the question.

"What do you mean dear?" Mitsuko was somewhat perplexed at the statement.

"Nevermind." Pain replied straightforwardly.

He finished the rest of the meal in silence as the duo watched him without raising any more questions. Once he was done eating he got up with the help of his crutch ready to leave.

"Where are you going young man?" Bunkichi asked.

"I wish to go somewhere outside…somewhere open." Pain made his intentions clear.

"I see. Then I think I know the perfect place. There is a park in the outskirts of the village where you can relax." He described.

"That…sounds feasible."

"Then let us take you there." Mitsuko said excitedly. "Just give me a bit to get ready."

Soon the three set off for the park at the edge of the village and in about ten minutes they reached their destination. Bunkichi and Mitsuko guided Pain to a bench at a corner of the park where there weren't very many people and gently set him down.

"This is it. Good isn't it?" Bunkichi asked taking a deep breath and looking around.

"Yes…this shall suffice." Pain replied as emotionlessly as ever. "I would prefer to be left alone here for the time being."

"Sure, no problem." The old man upheld his request. "We will come back to pick you up later tonight if that's okay."

"Yes." Pain stated curtly.

As the old couple turned around to leave, Pain added one more statement.

"Thank you." He said, knowing that he wouldn't meet them again.

At his reply, the couple was quite surprised. This was the first time he showed gratitude towards them.

"Don't mention it; it's our pleasure." Mitsuko smiled back even though Pain couldn't see.

"I'll see you later young man." Bunkichi stated happily.

After the two left, the blond was once again left on his own. He felt unusually bad for some reason, especially after meeting the old couple. This type of interaction proved difficult for him to handle and the way they showed kindness to him felt more painful than pleasing. He sat there for hours contemplating on the various actions that he had undertaken until nightfall.

For a while now the park had emptied out and he was waiting patiently in the darkness of the night. It was quite peaceful…until the peace was broken. Suddenly he started hearing screams coming from the villagers as they ran past the park. It seemed like people were running for their lives. Eventually a man who was passing by came rushing over to him.

"Mister, where do you live? We need to hurry and get you back before you get hurt, or worse get killed." The man breathed heavily after having run with all his might.

"What's the matter?" Pain wanted to know what the commotion was about.

"They are coming, the rogue ninja. They were spotted just outside the village."

"Rogue ninja?" Pain didn't know exactly what was going on and wished to know more.

"There is a group of five rogue ninjas that sometime infiltrate our village. They come in and loot anything that they want. They take out anyone that stands in their way, and because we are just normal people, we don't stand a chance against them. So we just hide when they appear and let them take whatever they want hoping they spare our lives." The man cowered in fear.

"I see." Pain used his ninja senses and located the five signatures that were headed towards the village. They were in the forest just outside. Having located them, Pain started to move towards the exit to the village.

"W-What are you doing?" The man asked in awe.

Pain didn't bother replying and used a swift karate chop to knock the guy out to unconsciousness as he eventually exited the village. Fortunately for him, everyone had already entered their homes to save their lives and as such there was no one else to stop him from taking his course of action. He walked into the forest until very soon five men stood in front of him as he blocked their way.

"You won't be going into that village." Pain stated as a matter of fact.

"Huh?" One of the ninjas snickered at what appeared to him as a comedic moment. "You gonna stop us?"

"If need be…yes."

All five ninjas started laughing as though it was the best joke they had ever heard.

"Look at this guy." One of the ninjas pointed to his friend. "He's leg is busted up and on top of it he's blind. And he thinks he can stop us."

"This guy has a death wish." The other ninja spat on the ground next to him. "So let's grant him his wish and be on our way."

"Aight bro, your time has come." All the ninjas unsheathed their swords loudly. "Although you can't see, I'm sure you heard that. Now cower in fear as you face your final moments."

Two of the ninjas screamed as they rushed straight at him with their swords at hand.

"Fear…." The blond trailed off.

For the first time that day Pain smiled. He suddenly felt right at home. He disliked the kindness and care being shown to him previously by the old couple, but this was exactly what he liked to see. The hatred and contempt of the ninjas felt blissful as blood started flowing rapidly through his veins and arteries. He threw his crutch aside as the ninjas got ever so close to him.

Just as the two ninjas raised their swords, ready to bring them down upon him, Pain suddenly started forming two rasengans in both hands.

"Rasengan barrage." He whispered, connecting the blue spheres directly at the ninjas before they could hit him, sending them flying to the nearest two trees, causing the trees to topple over.

"YOU'RE DONE!" Two more ninjas had jumped up to take the aerial route down just after their friends were sent flying.

But within an instant, Pain brought out a three-pronged kunai and threw it vertically upwards, past the two ninjas that were currently in mid-air above him. At that very moment he disappeared from his current position and re-appeared mid-air right behind the two ninjas.

"Behind you." He stated calmly, connecting two more rasengans to the backs of the ninjas sending them crashing to the ground. Pain then landed on the ground on his uninjured leg and grabbed the kunai that fell down from the sky, putting it back in his pouch.

"This can't be…" The last ninja cried out in paranoia looking at the state of his friends around him.

"I like that look that you have right now." Pain complimented. "And for that I will let you have something a bit more special than what your friends received."

Pain brought forth two shadow clones around him. He put his right hand forward as the shadow clones focused on the hand and started to form a special variant of the rasengan. Once the technique was complete, the clones popped out of existence.

"W-What is that?" The ninja asked with his eyes wide open.

"This is…Wind Style: Rasenshuriken." Pain stated holding the shuriken-like rasengan above his head. He reeled his hand back but just before he was about to throw it, he stopped.

"I was hoping to see a look of distress." Pain said in a disappointed tone. "But it seems you really don't understand the power of this technique and what it can do."

Pain simply defused the technique casually as if nothing happened.

"I suppose I'll let you experience TRUE fear since my powers seem to have regenerated quite a bit. All that sitting around must have worked out quite well." He cracked his knuckles and his shoulder with a sinister grin.

"COME FORTH: ONE TAILED BEAST!" Pain shouted while making a few handsigns as his demeanour suddenly changed into one that was genuinely scary. Right behind him, enormous amounts of sand started to overflow from the ground until a towering giant Tanuki took form. The one tailed beast gave a mighty roar which uprooted many trees around the forest.

"This is impossible…Shukaku of the sand." The ninja's face was overcome with fear as he crawled backwards from the sight of the behemoth in front of his eyes.

"That's what I like to see." Pain now laughed hysterically standing in front of the beast. "That look of fear and despair…it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!"

"No…" The ninja got up and tried to run, only to trip over and fall down.

"NOW SHUKAKU, USE YOUR WIND STYLE: AIR BULLET!" Pain commanded and Shukaku started to inhale an enormous amount of air immediately, becoming almost twice his normal size.

"STOP THIS INSTANT!" Nemesis shouted as it came down from the sky and possessed the blond, leading to the dark figure being born once again. The next moment Shukaku's body started disappearing just the way in which it appeared, until finally all the sand became part of the ground.

"Why did you stop me?" Pain asked in a somewhat irritated tone.

"HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?" Nemesis was even angrier. "Why would you summon Shukaku at our current state? With his profile, ninjas will be able to sense him even from a great distance away and our cover will be blown. We can NOT afford that before our strengths have fully recovered."

"I suppose you do have a point." The blond acknowledged.

"This is EXACTLY why I keep saying that your rash decisions are what put us in these uncouth situations. If you only just stopped for a second and considered the consequences." Nemesis complained.

"Well whatever…I did get to see his face with terror and hopelessness ingrained. So it was worth it." The dark figure walked over to the ninja cowering on the ground, unable to even talk and knelt in front of him.

"I can see clearly…now that I'm in this form…your heart that is STAINED with darkness. You can do NOTHING against me with such a heart…and you're only just a pawn to me." The dark figure extended his right hand and brought it slowly close to the ninja's face who at this point had almost lost his sanity.

"Hmm…it seems ninjas are already starting to make their way over here." The dark figure stated as he turned away from the rogue ninja. "I must take my leave immediately."

And in the next instant he disappeared abruptly leaving no traces behind.

As he jumped from tree to tree, the dark figure's red eyes flickered violently as his fuel for vengeance had once again been ignited.

"Just you wait little girl. It won't be too long now. My powers are regenerating rapidly and soon…I will have my revenge…and those eyes."

With his final words, he disappeared once again into the darkness.

* * *

Didn't expect a chapter about the antagonist now did you? Hopefully this provided a bit more of an idea of the kind of person the antagonist is and a little bit about his powers. Although this is just the beginning and there is a lot more to know about him including his summoning of the tailed beast.

Two rather cryptic references in this chapter. One to a JRPG and another to a very old cartoon I used to love as a kid. Maybe someday someone will figure them out.

Until next time, be wary of Pain and Nemesis ;)


	28. The Fireworks Festival Part 1

**The Fireworks Festival Part 1**

Sup everyone? As always glad to have you back. Since we had some pretty serious stuff go on last chapter, I think it's time we returned to some fun stuff once again. Hope you enjoy :)

* * *

Returning to the Konoha 12 and the rest who were in Yuhi's mindspace…

Ino finally pinpointed the next memory to watch.

"Alright guys, this looks pretty good so I'll let it play." As she finished her sentence, the next memory started up.

It was night time. Streams of people were walking towards the outskirts of Konoha near the river that flowed through. It was the night of the fireworks festival, an annual event held every year on this day where there would be many stands with all sorts of delicious foods and fun games set up along the bank of the river. The old and young alike, as well as everyone in between attended the event to see the spectacular fireworks that were set off at midnight. As such, most of Konoha did not get any sleep this weekend and celebrated the event with great vigour.

Naruto, Hinata and Yuhi were also making their way to the event to take part in the festivities. It was after all an event Naruto himself popularised. They were all dressed for the occasion as Naruto wore a Yukata while Yuhi and Hinata were Kimonos. As they got close to their destination, they saw a young boy also making his way through the crowd dressed in a Yukata. Yuhi's face instantly lighted up in even more excitement than it already was.

"Menma" Naruto called out to the kid, causing him to turn around and come running towards them in glee.

"Yos-su!" Menma greeted as energetically as ever.

"Yo-uu!" Yuhi tried to imitate Menma and failed due to her usual speech problems while being around him.

"No Yuhi, not Yo-uu, Yos-su. Say it properly." Menma instructed, not knowing exactly why she couldn't say it in the first place.

"Yos-uu!" Yuhi tried again.

"No no no, not Yos-uu, Yos-su. Try again." Menma urged her.

"Yo-su!" And she yielded to his demand.

"Hmm…that wasn't perfect but it was close enough." Menma thought carefully. "I guess it'll do for now."

"My, I didn't know you two started to get along so well." Hinata giggled looking at the exchange of the two children in front of her.

"Mommy…" Yuhi blushed a crimson shade of red while twiddling her index fingers together.

Hinata was startled by the reaction of her daughter and how she imitated her own actions. She didn't remember when she picked up her traits but could only acknowledge that Yuhi was indeed her daughter after all. It brought over a feeling of nostalgia from her own childhood as she looked at Naruto standing beside her. Hinata knew Menma resembled Naruto in many ways and had much of his great traits, so she could only look at Yuhi as her own counterpart in this situation. She couldn't help but smile at the fact that history was repeating itself once again and wished Yuhi the best of luck in her mind. If she could do it, then her daughter could as well.

"Yuhi is my friend and rival." Menma declared proudly.

"Hai hai, you've been repeating that ever since you met her. For tonight, just be friends okay." Naruto knelt down while bringing his Gama pouch out and handed the childrem a note each. "Take this, run along and have fun with the other kids."

Both Yuhi and Menma accepted graciously seeing as the money would be enough to grant them admission to a plethora of rides and other attractions that were present. But to their surprise as well as Naruto's, Hinata also brought out two more notes from the purse she was holding and handed them to the kids.

"Make sure you behave okay." Hinata ordered gently while patting the two on the head. "And have a lot of fun."

"If you need us, then just locate and find us." Naruto reminded Yuhi. "We'll find you later on before the actual fireworks take place."

The two kids nodded heartily and ran off to their many destinations for the night.

"Surprising that you sent them off on their own." Hinata looked over at Naruto astounded.

"Well, I'm sure they'll have a lot more fun enjoying the festival with all the other kids." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "But this way the two of us can have some alone time enjoying the festival in our own way, which is much appreciated."

"You are quite romantic tonight Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled at her husband's true confession. "Well, you already know how I feel about the situation, so I'm all for it."

"You know, I was also quite surprised when you handed them even more money after me." Naruto stated his thoughts. "Didn't see that coming, given you're the one who always makes sure Yuhi becomes disciplined and doesn't end up spoiled."

"Well that is true, but every once in a while I think it is okay to spoil her a bit. Given that tonight is a once in a year event, I want her to have as much fun as she can."

"You are such a kind mother." Naruto gave her a little nudge.

"And you are such a kind father." Hinata nudged back in response.

"Actually, let me have a look at your purse." Naruto's eyes fell on Hinata's purse when she took out the money earlier and so he took hold of it on one hand while holding his Gama pouch on the other hand. "Wow Hinata-chan, this thing is quite heavy. Even heavier than Gama-chan."

"Well, I am the Hyuga clan leader after all. I honestly didn't really want any payment given that you already earn more than enough for the three of us, but father insisted that I did take something." Hinata explained.

"I wouldn't ever want you to have to worry about earning since it's my duty to take care of such things as a responsible man, but I'm glad you are getting along with your work as the Hyuga head. If you are happy and everything is alright, then that's all that matters to me."

"So far it's been going well and hopefully it'll keep going well." Hinata acknowledged. "And our own family is in good status."

"True and it's thanks to you for taking care of the financial aspects." Naruto appreciated the work Hinata put in to maintain that their family was always well kept. "It may sound trivial but it is honestly such a load off my chest."

"You already have enough to worry about as the hokage. It is the least I can do, and you know I'll always support you however I can."

"My money, your money, it's all the same." Naruto handed over both Gama-chan and her purse to Hinata. "We are family after all."

"That is indeed true, but I was hoping you could carry Gama-chan and my purse for tonight since you have pockets in your Yukata. I don't have that luxury in my Kimono, which makes it a bit irritating to carry the purse around." Hinata pointed out to her little dilemma.

"I got you covered." Naruto gladly solved his wife's problems. "So, shall we get going?"

Naruto extended his arm towards Hinata as she wrapped her own around his and locked their palms together. The two started to make their way into the festival.

Elsewhere though, Yuhi and Menma weren't having such financial clarity with the allowance they were given. They had come across a stand that was selling bananas with a chocolate coating and all kinds of colourful toppings.

"CHOCO BANANA!" Menma shouted in joy. "Let's have some."

"M-Menma-kun, can you buy me o-one too?" Yuhi asked while fidgeting around.

"No." He said outright. "You have your own allowance. Buy it yourself."

Yuhi was completely devastated. It's not that she didn't want to spend her own allowance, but rather she wanted Menma to buy her one. That way, even a simple choco banana would appear special to her. At this point, her stubbornness which she gained from her father kicked in somewhat.

"I want t-that Choco banana." She insisted strongly.

"Well then get it yourself." Menma shrugged her off.

The otherwise strong Yuhi was now completely shattered by the turn of events. Her eyes started to get watery from the responses she was given.

"WHOA NO DON'T CRY PLEASE!" Menma felt guilty at how horrible he was being, especially given it was her parents who gave him the allowance in the first place. "Here, I want you to have all my money."

He handed over the two notes over to Yuhi causing her to look at him in awe.

"No, I want y-you to have all m-my money." She pushed her own hands with her money at him.

"No, you have mine."

"No, you have mine."

"No, you have mine."

"No, you have mine."

An argument erupted and neither seemed unyielding.

"I think I have an idea." A light bulb went off in Menma's head. "How about we combine our allowances and spend together?"

Yuhi definitely liked the idea of that. Being able to collaborate with Menma in any fashion sounded great to her and she nodded strongly.

"Alright then, you hold on to the money." Menma pushed the notes into her hand.

"N-No, you can hold them." Yuhi suggested.

"Yuhi!" Menma suddenly held on to her shoulders and gave her a very serious look. "I want you to hold on to it."

His serious expression caused Yuhi to become completely unable to deny him and she accepted. The two finally ended the argument, but little did Yuhi know that Menma would be winning many more arguments in the future using the same tactic he used at tonight. It was the birth of a new cornerstone to their relationship as they gained mutual trust towards each other. Finally with matters settled, they both got a choco banana each and enjoyed it while heading off to their next attraction.

Elsewhere, Naruto and Hinata were walking side by side. Only difference was that in the few minutes they had spent walking through the food stands, they were handed tons of different food items by all the shopkeepers. Every year, Naruto and Hinata's visit was seen as a main event for the festival and as such they received tons of gifts and prizes from almost every stall they passed. Tonight was no different as after just a little bit of walking, the two received so much stuff that they had to take some time out and go to a secluded area with no shops just to rest for a bit. Naruto dropped all the bags he was carrying under a tree and took a seat, leaning against the tree and letting out a breath of relief. Hinata followed suit and took a seat beside Naruto.

"This is quite the beautiful spot we have stumbled upon." Hinata described looking onwards. The tree they were sitting under was a little distance away from the festival, right beside the river. The gentle breeze that flowed over the river wafted past the tree, continuously giving it a pleasant feeling, while lights from the festival were reflected off the river to make for a beautiful viewing.

"So it is, but I wished they didn't flock us and keep giving us all these items." Naruto complained.

"Now Naruto-kun, don't be like that. They all adore you as their hokage and only want to express that adoration in any form they can. It is simply an honour for them to be able to serve you." Hinata said leaning against his shoulder. "Normally I would also insist on them not giving us all these freebies, but once in a while I think it's okay to accept their gratitude if it makes them happy."

"I get that, but it tires me out you know. I just want to enjoy the festival like any other person." Naruto sighed once again.

"Then how about this?" Hinata suddenly straightened her posture and extended her legs forward, which caused Naruto to look towards her. "Want to relax a bit?"

Hinata lightly tapped her lap and Naruto caught on instantly. Without any words, he put his head on her lap and outstretched his body across the grassy surface. It was truly comfortable.

"This is EXACTLY what I needed." Naruto closed his eyes is bliss. "You are always as thoughtful as ever. It's like you know exactly what I want. Does the Byakugan let you know people's thoughts as well?"

"As helpful as that would be, no." Hinata laughed at the joke. "But I can tell what you are thinking."

"I can vouch for that." Naruto stroked Hinata's cheeks gently. "Now I'm feeling hungry."

"The villagers have us covered in that regard." Hinata fished around the bags that were lying beside them and picked out a box of Takoyaki. "Want to have some Takoyaki?"

"If it's being fed by you, I'll have anything." Naruto closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"Is that so?" Hinata saw this as a great opportunity to play a little prank on Naruto. She took a few small leaves lying under the tree and wrapped them up together in a ball shape similar to the Takoyaki. She then dropped it into Naruto's mouth. At first he chewed like normal trying to savour the taste of the food his wife so lovingly fed him, but once the taste started to set in….

"WHAT IS THIS DISGUSTING TEXTURE?" Naruto spat out the half-chewed leaves from his mouth. "Did you just give me a leaf?"

Hinata laughed louder than ever as Naruto desperately searched around for a bottle of water to rinse his mouth.

"That is not funny Hinata-chan; I trusted you." Naruto gurgled the water to get the horrendous taste out of his mouth.

"Gomen, gomen." Hinata still tried to hold in her laughter. "Seeing as you always play these silly pranks on me, I couldn't resist. I guess being with you for so long has made me inherit some of your traits."

"I am a prankster at heart, so I guess it makes sense my significant other would also be that way at least a little bit." Naruto agreed. "But please no more of that stuff. It'll kill my taste buds."

Naruto once again went back to his former position and opened his mouth. This time Hinata used a toothpick to feed him a Takoyaki.

"Oh wow this is really good stuff." Naruto loved what he was eating. "You should have some too."

"I'm okay. Just seeing you enjoy it is good enough of a treat for me." Hinata smiled gently looking down at Naruto's face.

"I know…" Naruto grabbed the toothpick from Hinata's hand and used it to pick out a Takoyaki and fed it to her. "How's that?"

"Wow, this is actually very delicious." Hinata savoured the taste.

The two spent their tranquil time together trying out the different food that they acquired at the festival.

Elsewhere, a certain man was standing at the entrance to the festival in anticipation of someone. Konohamaru looked somewhat frustrated given that he was waiting for a while now but decided to be patient.

"Konohamaru-kun." Ebisu, his previous sensei came up to him from the crowd of people walking into the festival grounds.

"Ebisu-sensei, how's it going?" Konohamaru's face lighted up in excitement seeing his former teacher.

"Not much. I'm here with my family but I saw you from a distance, so just came here to say hi." Ebisu elaborated. "But why are you here alone Konohamaru-kun? You just got married recently, so shouldn't you be with your wife in this occasion?"

"Yes, that was the plan, but she had something to do earlier at her clan. So she decided we would meet up here directly and head in together." Konohamaru sighed. "But she's running late."

"Don't worry about it Konohamaru-kun, women just take a little bit extra time when it comes to going out. Plus the two of you have just gotten married, so I'm sure she wants to look extra special for you." Ebisu gave him some important wisdom in regards to his current scenario.

"I guess you are right sensei." Konohamaru smiled. "You are as wise as always."

"Talking about your wife, she's right there." Ebisu pointed at a certain person in the distance.

But before this person could be seen, the memory was cut off and everyone was standing in the mindspace.

"WHAT THE HECK INO? Why'd you cut it off like that? I wanted to know who Konohamaru's wife is." Naruto complained angrily.

"Yeah me too." Tenten and Sakura added together. There was a general unrest among everyone who wanted to know more about how this would play out.

"Calm down you all, I didn't do it on purpose." Ino said in her own defence. "Something came up, but I'll get it fixed straight away."

She wasted no time and got to work.

"Oh man Konohamaru, are you excited or what to find out your future wife?" Naruto nudged his younger student with a sly smile.

"I DON'T CARE!" Konohamaru blushed deeply at the attention he was getting.

"Awww look at him. He's all shy." Sakura added in a little innocent provocation of her own.

"Didn't think I'd ever see you like this Konohamaru." Naruto laughed out loud.

"Heh, I can't believe someone actually married a loser like you." Hanabi added in a little insult. "I feel bad for that woman."

"What does that mean?" Konohamaru asked haughtily.

"It means exactly what I said." Hanabi clarified with a firm tone. "No normal woman would ever want to associate with an idiot like you."

"Given who I am, I would have no problems finding first rate Kunoichi any time I like." Konohamaru countered. "And if you heard correctly, it seems my future wife is from a clan."

"I bet it's some no-status, loser clan just like you." Hanabi dismissed his argument bitterly.

"I bet it's one of the strongest clans just like my own." Konohamaru fumed.

"Okay the memory is ready again. Sorry for the disturbance. I'll play it now." Ino instructed as the memory once again started up from where it left off.

The woman in question who was Konohamaru's wife was now standing in front of future Konohamaru and Ebisu.

* * *

Anyone wanna take a huge **swing-zing** guess on who Konohamaru's future wife is?

Prop goes to **Uchiha MeNikki** for using the above bolded word. Because of you, I've now started to use it in real life as well. Like for example:

Question Paper: Identify which model accounts for the first term in the Semi-Empirical Mass Formula.

Me: *Hmmm…Light bulb goes off in head* I think I'll take a huge swing-zing guess and say the liquid drop model.

Btw that was just my thought process. I wouldn't actually write that as my answer in an exam. I think I'd probably lose marks if I did lol. So darn you Uchiha MeNikki for making me use your epic catchphrases and potentially failing my exams as well. I kid, I kid, jk, jk.

Oh and I'd also like to give a warm welcome to **PAPA ARC **on behalf of fanfiction and all of its readers and and writers. I'm glad that you joined fanfiction and I'm honoured that this is the first fic you have read. I hope you continue reading this fic and find even more awesome fics to read that are out there, or perhaps ever write one of your own. Whatever you choose to do, have fun.

As always, all of your reviews and messages are an absolute blast to read. So keep em' coming and I'll do my best to keep delivering whenever I can. Take care and bye for now :)


	29. The Fireworks Festival Part 2

**The Fireworks Festival Part 2**

So let's start off today's chapter with a Naruto joke I came across on a Youtube video:

Question: How was Pain born?

Answer: WITH AN ALMIGHTY PUSH!

HAH-HA LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! That has to be the best Naruto joke ever right...RIGHT?

*Sound of crickets*

So it's just me…okay let's just get on with the chapter then :(

* * *

The woman in question who was Konohamaru's wife was now standing in front of future Konohamaru and Ebisu.

That woman was none other than…Hanabi Hyuga.

She was wearing a black kimono with dark red cloud patterns embedded all across it. The overall colour scheme of her clothing matched perfectly and was accentuated by her long black hair, giving an overall majestic appearance.

"We were just talking about you Hanabi." Ebisu said while looking through his sunglasses which he wore even at night. "Nice to see you again."

"You too Ebisu-sensei." Hanabi greeted back. "It has been a while since we last met. I think it was during the wedding night."

"Indeed and it was quite the spectacular event." Ebisu reminisced of the occasion. "The Hyuga and the Sarutobi really know how to celebrate when it comes to it."

"Well, it was quite the unconventional match. So it must have come as a surprise to most." Hanabi also thought back to how everything came together.

"Most certainly, but nonetheless, I'll be taking my leave now. My own family is waiting." Ebisu waved the two goodbye as did Konohamaru and Hanabi.

While walking towards the entrance, Hanabi turned towards Konohamaru with a very intent look on her face as though she was expecting something from him, but he only returned a look of irritation.

"What took you so long?" Konohamaru asked grumpily. "I've been waiting for over half an hour…GEEZ!"

"Well, so what?" Now Hanabi's tone also showed annoyance. "You should act more like a gentleman and be patient."

"You should act more like a decent human being and not keep people hanging." Konohamaru was now aggravated.

"Why did I even bother with all this crap?" Hanabi fumed with rage as she looked down at her getup. "This is the reason why it took me so long. Wearing this Kimono was such a pain and now I'm wondering what the point to all of this was."

"How do you not know how to wear a Kimono while being a Hyuga." Konohamaru scratched his head in confusion. "The Hyuga are as traditional as it gets."

"Yeah well I'm not used to this. I never really enjoyed wearing these kinds of clothing and preferred loose fitting ones that helped better in combat." Hanabi scoffed at the inquiry.

"Wow, that's soooo not womanly."

"Well EXCUSE ME for not having enough feminine charm."

"You were at your clan right?" Konohamaru gave her a questioning glance. "Couldn't you just get someone to help you out with wearing it?"

"Sis would normally help me out with such things, but she left early today since she had to prepare to come here with her own family. So I was pretty much left alone."

"I'm sure there are other females in your clan besides your sister."

"WELL I'm not going to ask them to help me out with wearing a dress." Hanabi was getting even more infuriated at having to explain the most basic things. "I'm the daughter of the previous Hyuga clan leader, so they'd think I'm stupid or something."

"I get it now…I get it all very clearly now." Konohamaru sighed deeply.

"Ah man this is so uncomfortable, and I think it's getting undone." Hanabi sounded her queries in a low voice so only the person next to her could hear. "We need to step aside for a bit. I need to fix this."

"Alright fine." Konohamaru sighed once again as the two walked away from the crowd to amidst some trees a distance away where there weren't any people present. "This should be good enough for you to sort things out."

"Yeah this is good enough." As Hanabi started to walk forward, she stepped on the bottom of her own Kimono and tripped. Luckily for her Konohamaru had already moved in front and grabbed her firmly before she took a tumble down to the ground below.

As she leaned against Konohamaru's chest, a light blush crept into her cheeks when she realised how quickly he came to her rescue a moment ago. This made her look upwards at his face with intent for the first time since she got here, hoping to see a gallant expression. What she saw though disgusted her beyond words. Konohamaru was drooling as his face displayed an incredibly perverted form.

Unfortunately for Hanabi, when she tripped forward, the sash as well as the belt underneath that held the Kimono in place had come loose, a result of her shoddy preparation. The appearance of Hanabi in the loose Kimono resulted in the lecherous look on Konohamaru's face as many questionable thoughts started to form in his mind.

"ECCHI!" Hanabi screamed like a little girl and slapped him wide across his face, sending him tumbling several feet from her.

"OH my face…" Konohamaru held the point of impact which currently burned intensely and had a red imprint of Hanabi's palm. "WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU GETTING WEIRD THOUGHTS AT A TIME LIKE THIS?" Hanabi clutched the two sides of her Kimono together tightly as though she was trying to protect her body from a savage wolf.

"Well…I…" Konohamaru couldn't counter since he couldn't deny the fact that scandalous thoughts which he couldn't relay to a child did cross his mind, but suddenly he realised something. "What's wrong even if I did feel that way? We are a couple after all."

"Well…I…" Now Hanabi couldn't counter since Konohamaru did have a point. A husband giving his wife that kind of attention wasn't very incorrect by any means. "I still think you should be more supportive and understanding of me and read the situation better. I'm in some serious trouble here."

"Stand still." Konohamaru's expression changed into a focused one as he walked over to Hanabi and picked up the belt and the sash that dropped to the floor. He kneeled down to straighten the Kimono and got behind Hanabi, from where he started to reassemble the sash and the belt in their correct form.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Hanabi asked defensively, still not sure what kind of devious plan he had.

"I said stand STILL…geez. Can't you trust me just a bit? I'll help you to fix this." Konohamaru stated as he continued his handiwork, tightening the belt around Hanabi's waist.

"How do you know how to do all this?" Hanabi was genuinely taken aback at how casually her husband was putting her dress together in place.

"I've seen my mother wearing Kimono ever since I was a child. She used to get me to help her out in occasions and also taught me in detail how to dress up in one." Konohamaru explained as he made a flower shaped knot behind Hanabi's back. "There, that should do it."

Hanabi was amazed at how well her dress stayed together once Konohamaru was done fixing it. Heck, it even felt much more comfortable than it did previously when she put it on by herself.

"H-Here, I got this for you earlier." Konohamaru held forward a black hairclip with a red fireworks design which matched perfectly with her dress. "It's nothing special and you already look beautiful in that getup, but when I saw this earlier today I thought it'd match very well with your dress. You don't have to take it if you don't like it."

"No…I think it's wonderful." Hanabi was finally feeling happy as she accepted the gift. She was waiting for Konohamaru to make a comment on her appearance ever since she got to the festival, and now that he did, all the effort she put into getting ready was worth it. She wanted to put on the hairclip he gave her but she didn't have much experience in using such accessories either and without a mirror it was difficult to do so anyway. "This is a bit challenging to put on, but if I keep trying…."

"It's okay; I'll help you." Konohamaru took the hairclip from her hand and got behind her once again. He gently bunched her hair together and put the hair clip on, giving her hair a ponytail-esqe appearance.

"Don't tell me you learned this from your mother as well." Hanabi enquired.

"Yeah…" Konohamaru sweat-dropped at the question.

"What else has your mother been teaching you?" Hanabi also sweat-dropped at all the womanly things her husband seemed to know.

"Quite a lot…" He answered in a shy tone.

"Anyway, you look lovely." Konohamaru complimented with a smile.

"Thanks…and you look very handsome." Hanabi also complimented back with a smile.

For the first time that night, the two smiled and looked happily at each other. They finally held hands and started to return towards the festival.

Elsewhere near the river bank a little distance away from where all the commotion was ongoing, a lone Uchiha sat by himself looking onwards without any care in the world. He would normally never come to such an event with so many people, but for some reason tonight which he couldn't put a finger on, he just wanted to be part of the occasion. Ever since he met Yuhi, he inadvertently felt that having company would not be so bad. He didn't feel completely comfortable about walking into the festival and so just decided to sit near the riverbank intent in just being able to soak in the atmosphere. It certainly did beat the monotonous lifestyle he led.

While he sat there thinking about various things, someone approached him. Looking up he saw a person from his storied past: Karin Uzumaki, the red haired girl who used to be madly in love with him and also the person he tried to kill off. After being brought back to Konoha and serving time in probation, Karin was finally let out after Naruto pleaded her case to Tsunade at the time. He was completely flabbergasted to find that there was another Uzumaki besides himself alive and wanted her to be able to live among the people of Konoha in peace. So over time due to Karin's exceptional sensing capabilities, she became a part of Konoha's shinobi force. Eventually when Naruto became hokage, her position was further solidified making her an even more valuable to Konoha which lead her to be accepted amongst most of her peers in the village. She and Sasuke though had not come face to face for years and at this point when their gazes met, an awkward silence pervaded between them. Neither knew what to say to the other given their history together.

"Sasuke…" Karin was the first to utter a word. Even though Sasuke tried to cold-bloodedly murder her during the time when he was obsessed with revenge, just looking at him brought back all the memories of her crush on him. It was no temporary thing either; she genuinely did care for him. She imagined that given what he had done and not being in contact with him for so long would have erased whatever feelings she may have had for him, but once she saw him in person, those feelings seemed to re-emerge once again. Perhaps more so than anything though, she could sense that the Sasuke back then that tried to kill her and the Sasuke now that was in front of her were two different people. She could no longer feel the darkness within Sasuke as she did before. In fact, seeing Sasuke's current state made her feel somewhat sad, as though he were in a state of unrest.

"Karin…" Sasuke uttered her name looking directly at her. It seemed to him that she hadn't changed very much since the last time he remembered. He knew what he did to her was wrong as his judgement was no longer clouded by darkness as it once was, but he also realised that apologising now would probably not make up for what he did, and decided to put those thoughts into words. "I suppose apologising now wouldn't make up for the past events that have transpired."

Karin was taken aback somewhat. She didn't expect him to apologise either, but his words seemed sincere and gave a sense of suffering within.

"It's okay, I wasn't hoping for an apology either." Karin smiled at him while fixing her glasses. "So, how have you been?"

"Like I always have been…but this time truly alone." Sasuke looked towards the river once again. "Perhaps that is how it should be."

"I can tell you have changed Sasuke, so you don't need to torment yourself with your past." Karin oddly sympathised with him, which caused Sasuke to flinch slightly.

"Certainly didn't expect you to say so, given the past we share." Sasuke reluctantly brought up the topic even though it wasn't something he particularly wanted to talk about. There just wasn't any getting away from it and this may be his one chance to bring some kind of clarity to the whole chapter which was among many that weighed him down.

"Let's leave our pasts aside. We have both done many questionable things. I am personally thankful that Konoha has accepted me despite my history. If they can overlook my mistakes because I've changed, then I think it's only fair I do the same for you." Karin explained without any doubts. Her resolve was crystal clear.

"I see…thank you." Sasuke rarely ever thanked anyone, but this time he genuinely felt gratitude towards her. It was as though a great burden was lifted from his shoulders.

As they both came to a form of mutual understanding, two other women stumbled upon Sasuke and Karin. Sakura and Ino were also taking a stroll down the river bank after having exhausted themselves at the festival, but they most certainly did not expect to see Sasuke. This brought together all three previous admirers of Sasuke: Sakura, Ino and Karin.

"Sasuke-kun, didn't expect to see you here." Sakura gave her former teammate a look of disbelief. "Let alone with Karin."

"Oh no I just got here myself." Karin added.

"Oh okay. So what brings you here Sasuke-kun?" Sakura showed great interest at Sasuke's sudden decision to attend this event even though he was not very fond of crowds.

"A change of pace is all I was looking for." Sasuke explained while standing up and turning towards the two newcomers.

"If that's so then why not join us for a walk through the festival?" Ino proposed.

"I…don't know if that is such a good idea…" Sasuke was hesitant to truly get involved.

"Come on, you've come this far, it'd be a shame to miss out now." Sakura urged, backing up Ino's proposal. "Plus this event only comes around once a year."

"You too Karin; let the four of us have some fun together." Ino included the red-haired girl in their plans.

"I suppose I could go if…" She looked at Sasuke who was as of yet undecided.

Sasuke could feel the glances of the three girls on him which made him feel somewhat uneasy.

"I think I won't go after all." Sasuke decided to bailout of this situation since he didn't fancy getting dragged around all over the place. One of these girls would have been a handful, but all three would kill whatever was left of him.

"Oh come ON!" Ino exclaimed in an irritated tone.

"Seriously Sasuke-kun, you can't leave just like that." Sakura was not about to give up.

Karin felt somewhat disappointed at his decision, until someone decided to change everything.

"He isn't going anywhere." Naruto yelled from nowhere, making his way over to the party of four. Hinata followed after him.

"Naruto…what the?" Sasuke did not expect Naruto to make such a sudden appearance, but then again he was that type of person to show up out of the blue.

"Let's move Sasuke; there is a lot of fun to be had tonight." Naruto declared while putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and pointing towards the festival grounds. "I'm not having any of your moping around tonight. You do that every other night anyway, so taking a break for once wouldn't hurt anyone's grandma."

"Dobe, I'm not going." He stated coldly.

"Alright then Sasuke, I'll give you two options. You either decide to go with us and have a good time leading us to all be happy at the end, or you can choose not to go, in which case I beat you up and drag your body through the festival by the leg which will probably result in a lot of weird glances. You choose, but either way you aren't leaving here tonight until the fireworks take place."

"Is that a challenge?" Sasuke gave Naruto a confrontational look, just like old times.

"If you want it to be." Naruto returned an equally menacing glance.

"Now you two, there's no need to get so heated up." Sakura tried to stop the situation from escalating any further

"Stand down Sakura." Sasuke said. "It's between me and him."

"No offence Sakura-chan, but I agree with Sasuke on this one." Naruto added.

Sakura couldn't help but feel how this situation was a repeat of what happened at the hospital rooftop during their childhood.

"Alright, that's enough." Kakashi appeared out of nowhere with a poof of smoke between Naruto and Sasuke. Yugao came in soon after from a distance.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto looked questioningly at his former teacher.

"This is most certainly interesting." The older ninja changed his previous serious tone into a very casual one. "I can't remember the last time team 7 was in one place. This is quite the occasion."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura realised the truth behind Kakashi's statement.

"That's right." Naruto affirmed after his sudden realisation. "If not for anything else you HAVE to tag along just because team 7 is back together."

"Fine." Sasuke sighed. He knew there was no getting away now.

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto shouted in joy. "Let's all go have some fun."

"YEAH!" Came a response from the rest of the group.

* * *

I really hope someone saw what I did with Hanabi's kimono design lol. Btw it was just a joke to be clear and nothing serious. If it seems too unrealistic, just imagine some other shape as the pattern. Also you guys were right of course about Hanabi being Konohamaru's wife. But then again I kind of made this one obvious with all of their previous interactions.

Actually, if you noticed in this chapter, I'm thinking of someone for Sasuke. Of course you know the three candidates already. Who do you think Sasuke will end up with? I'm curious to see what most people think. You will find out eventually of course ;)

Also, someone save me please. One of my readers, **PippElulu**-chan is currently staring at me with demonic eyes forcing me to write more. I don't know what might happen if I decide to stop. I fear the worse *sobs*. Oh wait I KNOW, I'll use Yuhi to protect myself.

Me: Go Yuhi, use rasengan or something!

Yuhi: Leave it to me.

PippElulu uses demonic eyes no jutsu. Yuhi runs back behind me and cowers in fear.

Yuhi: I-It's too scary. I can't do it.

Me: What do you mean you can't do it? You're my OC; you should be listening to me.

Yuhi runs off to her mommy and daddy.

PuppElulu: You WILL write more chapters won't you?

Me: H-Haiiiiiii!


	30. The Fireworks Festival Part 3

**The Fireworks Festival Part 3**

Lets get going.

* * *

Naruto looked at the three girls that admired Sasuke closely and could see the excitement in their faces at the fact that Sasuke would be joining them, no matter how subtle it was. He decided it was the perfect occasion for him to have a talk with Sasuke about the current state of affairs.

"Everyone, me and Sasuke need to have a quick little one on one talk." Naruto announced out loud. "So you guys just go on ahead and we will follow soon enough."

Before anyone could say anything, he forcefully dragged Sasuke by the arm around his neck in the complete opposite direction of where the others were heading. Eventually the two reached an embankment near the river where Naruto stopped.

"What's the idea of dragging me over here after trying to convince me to partake in the festivities?" Sasuke complained. "I just don't get you sometimes dobe."

"Sasuke, I'll be honest with you on this, so I want you to listen to me carefully." Naruto's face showed an unusual seriousness, one that was only reserved for very grave issues.

"What is it?" Sasuke knew that he's usually goofy friend was not joking in this occasion and decide to match his disposition.

"I'm the hokage now Sasuke and surely you understand that there are some duties that I need to fulfil while assuming that role." Naruto elaborated. "One such role is the preservation of clan lineage of this village."

Sasuke gave Naruto a very grave look, but Naruto continued on unflinchingly.

"Bloodlines are an important aspect of any village. Many people would regard them as simply another source of power for a certain village, but I believe it is much more than that. Clan specialisations and bloodlines are in a sense what makes a village what it is. They give the village its identity. As such the Uchiha are part of the founding fathers of this village and despite what may have transpired in regards to that clan, they are nonetheless what formed the very infrastructure of this village."

"What are you getting at?" Sasuke measured every word and movement Naruto made. This was turning out to be a rather serious conversation unlike most they had together.

"I'll put this to you straight Sasuke. As a hokage I know that there would be those who would go to great lengths to preserve a bloodline like the Sharingan at all costs. You are the last of its kind here in Konoha and if you were to die, it would be gone for good, which would be a devastating loss. But I don't simply think that way. It is true that I am the hokage, but before I'm hokage I consider myself your friend Sasuke. As I said at the very beginning, I do not see the Uchiha or the Sharingan as some kind of tool to be used to strengthen the village, but rather as what defines Konoha in the first place. Above all, I want you to have your own family Sasuke. I want to see our children interact together someday. Because who doesn't want to leave behind their legacy right? Our children will not only carry our bloodlines, but more importantly they will carry on our wills, and if we can impart upon them the righteous ideals then they could go on to do great things not only for this village, but perhaps for the rest of this world as well. Do you see where I'm coming from?" Naruto finished his little speech with a thought provoking question.

Despite not making eye contact with him, Sasuke listened to Naruto attentively. What he said made a lot of sense to him. In fact these were all questions that he himself considered for quite a while now. So it came to Sasuke as somewhat of a surprise when his friend brought it up directly with him. He could see that Naruto didn't just consider him or the Uchiha as some kind of tool to be toyed around with, which made him feel somewhat more comfortable when dealing with the issue.

"Look man, this isn't too hard either. You've got quite a few admirers and you got to treat them right. I think it's about time you gave a reply; otherwise you really might end up forever alone, which I honestly don't want to see." Naruto voiced his concerns.

"I can appreciate somewhat what you are saying…" Sasuke replied deep in thought.

"Seriously bro, you just gotta experience the art of procreation." Naruto's previously serious face was now replaced by a deviant one. "Man…where do I even begin to explain how it feels…hehehehehehe."

"W-What do you mean?" Sasuke gave Naruto a very weird look in response to his questionable smile.

"DON'T make me have to explain the birds and the bees to you Sasuke. I'm already dreading the day when my little girl ends up asking me the question. I don't know what I would do. Maybe I should let Hinata-chan handle it. But what happens if she ends up fainting like she did back in the day? It's all so scary…scary…scary." Naruto held his head and dropped down to his knees, sulking like an emo, but suddenly getting up and once again assuming his devious face. "But let me tell ya…"

"DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING!" Sasuke slapped Naruto's mouth shut with his palm for a while.

"All joking aside, just think this through carefully."

"I will…contemplate upon it." Sasuke gave Naruto a reassuring look.

"Alright perfect." Naruto started to drag Sasuke along once again. "Then let's make our way to the rest."

Elsewhere, Yuhi and Menma were running around playing all sorts of festival games with the other kids present at the event. They tried out food from almost every stand that existed and were now currently looking for the next big attraction, when all of a sudden Yuhi's eyes fell on the grand prize. At the middle of the festival grounds, there seemed to be a relatively large open area that was surrounded by a huge crowd of people. Both Yuhi and Menma were interested to see what was going on in the middle and so they assumed a higher platform. In the middle area was a large rectangular ring filled with sand. Above it, 4 men stood on one side triumphantly waving at the crowd; while 4 others were lying flat on the floor. But more importantly, a host stood towards the back of the stage and behind him was a huge plush toy unlike any other that was seen at the festival. In fact it was bigger in size than the average adult present. It was no ordinary plush toy either; it was a huge Kyuubi plush toy with all of the fox's features so accurately replicated that at first look one would just assume it's just a miniaturised chibi version of the real Kyuubi itself.

Yuhi's eyes widened while looking at the huge toy that was present. She wanted it…BADLY, and Menma understood this.

"You want that thing right?" Menma asked while looking over at the girl next to him, at which Yuhi violently nodded. "Then let's go get it."

"COME ONE, COME ALL!" The host shouted at the top of his lungs. "This is the annual tug of war contest that we hold at the fireworks festival. The grand prize is this amazingly accurate rendition of the Kyuubi, tailor made and exclusive for this event. To win it you simply have to beat last year's champions in this game of tug of war. Whoever gets the first victory will become the new champion and receive the prize. So, are there any competitors out there who think they've got what it takes to win against our reigning champions?"

After seeing the embarrassing loss of the previous challengers, no one amongst the audience wanted to go up against the champions. But at this very moment, two kids jumped into the middle of the ring to everyone's surprise.

"We challenge you for that fox plushie thingy." Menma declared to the 4 men standing in front of him. Yuhi was reeling with excitement behind him. The Kyuubi was almost in her grasp. It was too cute for her to simply give up on.

"Yuhi…I should have known you'd show up here." Kiba, one of the reigning champions from last year stood in front of them.

"Nice to see you participate this year." Shino said in his calm voice from beside Kiba.

"Yo guys, you enjoying all the food everywhere." Chouji munched on a whole bag of chips at once. "Man this is the best time of the year."

"Most certainly, I can see that the little ones' souls burn ever so brightly with the flames of youth." One could almost see flames in Lee's eyes. "I shall give you the most magnificent match that you will remember for the rest of your lives."

The undisputed champions were a team of Kiba, Shino, Chouji and Lee.

"I don't really understand what he meant but I'll do my best." Yuhi eyed the Kyuubi plush with great intent. She was about to jump it at any second.

"About that…I regret to inform that you can't compete in this challenge unless you have four people." The announcer explained.

Yuhi's eyes instantly started to water at the statement.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH! Please don't cry; we'll figure something out." Menma waved his hand around in front of Yuhi to stop the inevitable. "What is wrong with you dude? We can take them by ourselves."

"Sorry kiddo, but rules are rules." The announcer said without any emotion. but even the previous champions were disheartened seeing how the kids were being rejected at least an opportunity to compete.

As Menma was grinding his teeth in anger thinking of what he could possibly do to get Yuhi that plush, Sakumo jumped into the fray.

"I'll join them." He declared taking a fighting posture.

"Sakumo?" Yuhi's face was once again showing some signs of life.

"You want that plushie don't you?" He asked. "Then I'll help you get it."

"WOW…thanks Sakumo. I think you can be pretty cool sometimes." Yuhi complimented in her excitement.

"Ah…it's no big deal." Sakumo averted his gaze somewhat as a slight blush crept into his cheeks, which would be unseen by all because of his mask.

"Well it's great that you have a third participant, but you still need a fourth person." The announcer pointed out.

The three kids realised that was the case and started to wonder what they could do. All this time though, Sasuke, Naruto and the rest were standing in the audience, but the three were so occupied with the prize that they didn't notice.

"I would have liked to at least see them compete." Hinata said in a sad tone. "They look so dedicated."

"Yeah…me too." Naruto thought of an ingenious plan.

He looked left and right to see the coast was clear and shoved Sasuke with all this might causing the Uchiha to end up in the middle of the ring right next to the kids.

"DOBE…WHY YOU?" Sasuke fumed looking at Naruto, who looked everywhere but at Sasuke and whistled away as if nothing happened, causing everyone to sweat drop.

"Uncle Sasuke, you'll help us?" Yuhi's eyes sparkled with hope from seeing Sasuke.

One look at those innocent puppy dog eyes and Sasuke couldn't resist.

"Fine…" He sighed and took his posture.

"Alright then, both sides get ready." The announcer instructed.

At his words the champions and the contenders picked up the thick rope that was lying at their feet. The rope was heavier than the Yuhi herself, but she still held on to it strongly as did the rest of her team.

"Ready….GO!" The announcer shouted and the crowd started to cheer as both sides pulled the rope with all their might.

"Interesting that you chose Sasuke rather than yourself or someone else to participate." Kakashi stated his point of view to Naruto who was standing next to him.

"Well, I see a lot of similarities between the four of them and the old team 7." He said looking onwards, feeling a great sense of nostalgia.

"How so?" Kakashi asked somewhat perplexed.

"I mean if you look at it carefully and compare them to how team seven was, then Menma is a lot like me, the knuckleheaded and brash one of the group. Sakumo is a lot like Sasuke in the sense that he is calm and collected. The two seem to be arguing always, but deep down they respect each other and consider themselves good friends. Yuhi is much like Sakura-chan, not in terms of personality, but rather in terms of the role she plays in holding the team together. Finally as the sensei, I see Sasuke being very similar to you in many ways." Naruto explained while looking at the four doing their best to win, but almost getting dragged off their feet, barely holding on.

"I actually see it now that you point it out." Realisation struck Kakashi like a ton of bricks. "They are incredibly similar to our team."

"Not that I can say that they will end up on the same team for sure, but if they do, I'd definitely want Sasuke to be their instructor." Naruto could see it now, the future of team Sasuke.

At this point, Sasuke's team was on the verge of losing as Shino, Kiba, Lee and Chouji pulled with all their might. Sasuke looked at the kids in front of him to see how desperately they were trying to not topple over. He didn't want to let them down. He quickly activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and looked at the four on the opposing team directly. Unfortunately for them, they made the mistake of looking back at Sasuke, which caused them to get trapped in his genjutsu.

"Now PULL with all you have." Sasuke ordered the kids.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all shouted in unison and with one quick burst Sasuke, Yuhi, Menma and Sakumo were able to bring the previous champions to their feet.

"WE HAVE NEW CHAMPIONS!" The announcer declared as the crowd erupted in cheers. Sasuke and his team celebrated as they did a group high five.

"That's not fair. He used a genjutsu on us." Kiba complained but it was drowned out by all the cheers of the crowd.

"It was our fault for looking Sasuke in the eye knowing he was a master of genjutsu." Shino countered.

"I agree." Chouji went back to eating his bag of chips. "We almost had them though."

"What a spectacular victory. A result of unmatched teamwork." Tears rolled down Lee's eyes like rivers. "There is much I must learn. To make up for this loss I shall do 1000 laps around Konoha while upside down on one hand and wearing 500 Kilogram weights on each leg."

Kiba and Chouji gave Lee horrified looks as the older Jounin prepared himself for his own self-inflicted punishment.

At the same time the announcer showed Yuhi to the Kyuubi plushie, which was over twice her size. She grabbed on to its two hind legs and wrapped the nine tails around her body and started to drag it cheerfully towards her parents.

"Look at that Kurama, she really likes your plushie." Naruto said to the real nine tails inside his mind.

"**That…abomination…I cannot stand to look at it." Kurama closed his eyes in shame.**

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "Look at how cute it is."

"**UGGGH…What have they done to me?" The Kyuubi was disgusted. "I was once feared amongst the nations as the most powerful of tailed beasts. People cowered in fear at my sight and fled for their lives in my appearance. The nine tailed fox…has now been reduced to a mere child's plaything."**

Naruto started to laugh hysterically listening to the Kyuubi's complaints. The fox did have some good points.

"**What are you laughing at kid?" The Kyuubi growled. "I should be going on a rampage from this level of insult. Give me one reason why I shouldn't?"**

"Because I think it's great that Yuhi is getting to know you, even if it's through a mere plush toy." Naruto gave Kurama one of his trademark smiles. "After all, you've been watching over her from the day she was born just like how you've been watching over me since I've been born."

"**Grrrrrr…" The Kyuubi came as close to pouting as he possibly could.**

"Someday, I want her to meet the real nine tailed fox." Naruto said.

"The real nine tailed fox?" Yuhi asked in a confused tone to her father, who had made that last statement out loud by mistake.

"Nevermind that it's nothing." Naruto diverted the topic. "That plushie is HUGE!"

"Isn't it?" Yuhi asked in glee. "Did you see me win?"

"Oh yeah, I definitely saw that one. You did AWESOME!" Naruto gave her a big hug and pulled her up off the ground and on to his back, making it so that he was carrying his daughter and the Kyuubi at the same time. "Let's go celebrate with the Kyuubi."

"YAY!" Yuhi shouted in joy as the two ran for the next attraction. The real Kurama couldn't help but smile also.

Eventually after enjoying the festival for a while longer, midnight was inbound. Fireworks rockets were set up all across the festival grounds as everyone stood in one huge line across the river bank waiting for the rockets to be launched into the sky. The biggest rocket was put on an extended platform where Naruto would launch the first one and soon after, all the other rockets would be launched to create the fireworks show.

So Naruto took his position as did everyone else. He searched around his pocket to realise he forgot to bring his lighter.

"Guys, I forgot to bring my lighter." Naruto shouted to the audience.

"Just use a fire style jutsu to light it." Someone suggested.

"But I don't know how to use fire style." Naruto answered back causing everyone to sweatdrop together. "I KNOW, Sasuke get over here right now and light this rocket."

At first Sasuke was incredibly annoyed how Naruto was dragging him all over the place the whole night, but he got a brilliant idea to get his revenge. He walked over to Naruto and just as he ordered, he lighted the little rope coming out from below the rocket with a light fire style technique. As the rope burned and the fire got ever close to the bottom of the rocket, Sasuke took a few steps back and shoved Naruto with all his might, causing him to tumble and grab on to the rocket. Sasuke started to whistle while averting his gaze from Naruto as the rocket finally launched off the ground taking Naruto with it. At the same time, many smaller rockets were also launched following the main one.

"SASUKE TEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" That was the loud response everyone heard from high up in the sky before the entire skyline was filled with magnificent fireworks as far as the eyes could see and the sound of many explosions.

From among the sky though, people could see a very small figure drop to the river below in the foreground as Naruto had let go of the rocket just after it reached midway. But Naruto's skydive to the river below also became a viewing spectacle for the audience to see besides the usual fireworks. Such was the unpredictable nature of events with Naruto around.

With the splash of Naruto dropping to the river below, the memory ended.

Instantly everyone in the mindspace looked over to Konohamaru and Hanabi, who just stood there motionless with their jaws wide open. Their postures were almost identical.

"OH…MY…GOODNESS!" Naruto started to roll around on the floor laughing as the majority of the people joined him in his laughter, albeit not on the floor. "You two…I should have known…this is the best…the two of you getting married."

Naruto could barely even speak as tears rolled down his eyes and he could hardly even breathe.

Ino, Tenten, Sakura and Temari did a massive group hug as they also cried from the hilarity of the situation. Even most of the guys were laughing their hearts out at the irony.

"Konohamaru and Hanabi." Hiashi stated calmly.

His statement caused the dumbstuck duo to finally look at each other. The next second the two ran towards the opposite ends of the mindspace and tried to throw up, but to no avail.

"No…not him…this has to be a sick joke." Hanabi gagged at the thought.

"My eyes, my mind…if only there was a way to UNSEE things. I know…please Ino-san, erase my memory of the last memory. I beg you…please." Konohamaru grovelled in front of Ino like a beggar.

"YES, me too." Hanabi came in and pushed Konohamaru aside. "My innocent mind has been tainted. You are the only one who can restore its purity."

Both Konohamaru and Hanabi started to shove each other around to have their memories erased.

"Ummm…you guys do realise that what you saw is reality." Ino stated calmly. "There's no point denying it."

"NOOOOO!" The two shouted in unison as they covered their ears with their hands.

At that moment though, Hiashi came in and placed his hands over both of their shoulders.

"What the Yamanaka says is correct." Hiashi still retained his focus. "You must accept it as it is for it is reality after all."

"F-Father…did you see what I saw in that memory?" Hanabi gave her father a look of disbelief. "I'm m-m-m-m-married to his guy."

"I know…..and I approve of it." Hiashi gave them both a thumbs up while still retaining his serious expression.

Both Konohamaru and Hanabi crashed on to their back seeing the Hyuga leader's disposition. They couldn't believe what they were seeing or hearing since he was the only one they imagined would disapprove of this.

"W-What are you saying f-father?" Hanabi barely managed to stand.

"Think about it carefully Hanabi. Your sister is marrying the hokage, Uzumaki Naruto whose father was also a hokage. As such it is a great match for the Hyuga. If you were to marry a Sarutobi, the Hyuga would have another great match given that this boy's grandfather was also the hokage and the Sarutobi clan are one of the strongest in Konoha. No matter how you look at it, he is the perfect match for you. The two of you practically belong together." Hiashi was trying to sell this marriage as though he were a dedicated salesperson.

"IS THE CLAN ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT FATHER?" Hanabi protested with all her might. "What about me?"

"Well yes, I do keep the clan in my thoughts always given I am its leader. But this match would not only be best for the clan, but for you as well. I mean look at him, he's a fine young man. Your elder sister and Uzumaki already have such a great child in the future, just think about the children the two of you could bring forth."

Hanabi and Konohamaru coughed violently at the mere thought of the two of them having children. Hiashi was not making things easy.

While those two were being mentally scarred for life, Naruto walked up to Sasuke with a giggle.

"My future self was right Sasuke." Naruto whispered to him. "You need to choose…"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke put his hand over Naruto's mouth just like his future self did as well.

While the commotion was ongoing, Ino had already located the next memory.

"Alright guys, I'm ready to roll the next one." Ino alerted the others.

"Please…before I lose my sanity." Hanabi pleaded.

"Indeed." Konohamaru added.

* * *

Well what do you know? I posted last chapter and right after the newest Naruto manga chapter got posted. And what do I find when I read the chapter...Karin oogling over Sasuke like she normally does. I found it borderline hilarious because Orochimaru pretty much said what I was thinking. Maybe it's just me but it seems like whoever gets stabbed by Sasuke's sword turns to his side. Maybe it's a property of his sword lol. Anyway, next manga chapter will be SO BEAST! OMG I can't wait to see Minato meet Naruto again. I am so hyped up it's unbelievable.

With that being said, see you all next time. I'm peacing out. Wait no that doesn't sound right. I should probably stop trying to make up random stuff sometimes and stick to the usual.

Peace out ;)


	31. Menma's Origin

**Menma's Origin**

New chapter is here. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

The next moment, a new memory started to play.

It was a bright morning in Konoha. Everyone seemed to be running about, carrying out their business as usual. But it was an important day nonetheless. Like last year, all the Kages were going to be vising Konoha once again for the usual alliance treaties and diplomatic talks. In fact this was an event held once every year where a village would be chosen as host. Peculiarly, Konoha was chosen twice in a row as the host for various reasons. But Naruto welcomed it greatly and given this was the second year in a row, he invited the Kages on a more personal level as opposed to them vising for a day and leaving as soon as the meeting was over. This time he urged them to take a few days out of their busy schedules and take the time to tour Konoha and its surrounding landscapes, to which all the Kages agreed after much deliberation, given they all led very arduous lifestyles, and a change of pace was a much needed distraction. As such, they would be arriving today for the meeting to be held tomorrow and have a day off to enjoy whatever Konoha had to offer. The sky was the limit, so to speak.

The first to arrive was the Tsuchikage Onoki along with this granddaughter and bodyguard Kurotsuchi. They walked in through the doors to be greeted by the guards and a few other ninja who were going to be their escort, but Onoki asked to be left alone with his granddaughter, insisting that they would be able to find their way around and would like to make their own pace. Given Naruto's strict orders in letting the visitors do as they pleased, a gesture of trust towards them, the ninjas left them on their own and took their leave.

"Oh my back, it's killing me." Onoki cried out in pain. "This old body can't take much more of this."

"What are you talking about?" Kurotsuchi seemed unsympathetic. "All you ever do is float around. It's not like you're even walking."

"Yeah but that doesn't change the fact that these bones are almost a century old." Onoki tried to reach over to the area on his back that hurt. "How about giving your gramps a quick massage?"

"Do I look like a massage girl?"

"What is this level of disrespect?" Onoki was shocked. "I thought you were raised better than this."

"Moving on to more important matters, I think it's about time you hand over that position of Tsuchikage to me old timer." Kurotsuchi suggested. "Then I'll make sure to send you over to some uninhabited island where you won't have to worry about all this tough business."

"Heh, if I wanted to let Iwa sink then I'd hand over the title to someone like you. Just because you're young, don't think you can underestimate me." Onoki said resiliently.

"What does that mean old man? I am plenty good to lead our village to prosperity. I'm the most loyal to it."

"Loyalty is great and all but it isn't the only trait required to become a leader." Onoki sighed as the topic of choosing the new Tsuchikage was brought up. He knew it had to happen at some point. "If only your brother was alive. He had all the makings to become the next Tsuchikage."

"Big brother huh…" Kurotsuchi's expression became grim when she remembered her late family member. "He would have indeed been up to the task. I thought I'd gotten over it, but it's always painful to recall the events of that night he died trying to protect his newborn child."

"Worse of all, we couldn't protect the child either, the one he gave his life for." Onoki looked down and clutched his fists in anger over his own inabilities. "That child was meant to be one who would become the link between Iwagakure and Kirigakure, two nations who have had bad blood since the second Tsuchikage and Mizukage's battles with each other. Seeing as how the countries became allied, we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to end our history of enmity once and for all by having one who was from the Tsuchikage's lineage to form a link with the current Mizukage. I guess you could call it a political marriage, but it was more than that; it was a marriage between two nations who have been at each other's throats for decades. Their child would be one of a kind, one who would not only inherit the powers of the current Tsuchikage and Mizukage, but also who would be the bridge between the two nations, linking them together for generations to come. Perhaps if the child was alive, he could have even become the next leader of our village, for he certainly had the potential from birth. To think my great grandson was killed at the day of his birth while I couldn't protect him puts a strain on this old man's heart."

"It was most certainly a monumental loss for us, but I really do have to wonder how much more agonising it must have been for his mother." Kurotsuchi could only sympathise with a fellow woman. "To not even be able to hold your child before they are taken away from you…"

"Indeed, she lost everything that night. Although she had to recover herself for the sake of her village and carry on with her duties as the Mizukage, I can see the suffering in her eyes from that loss still to this day. To think our own people plotted such a scheme and were successful in backstabbing us is nothing short of embarrassing for me in every way possible." Onoki felt the impulse of punching the ground, but resisted.

"It's okay grandpa; it wasn't your fault. You did the best you could." Kurotsuchi comforted her grandfather by rubbing on his back where it hurt, showing finally how much she truly cared for him. "I'm sure even Mei understands that. We will unite our villages somehow."

"Thanks Kurotsuchi. It's nice when you are kind." Onoki gave her a gentle smile.

"Hmmph, it's not like I'm being kind or anything." Kurotsuchi turned her head away as the two walked towards their destination.

At the same time, the boy who was being mourned by the two was now walking near to Konoha's entrance. Menma was heading out of the village for a bit to do his daily training. Oddly enough, even though he didn't have anyone tagging along with him, he felt as though he was being watched. He looked all around him to locate anything odd but couldn't find the source of his uneasiness. Finally giving up on his futile effort, he decided to just carry on.

Some distance away from him, Yuhi was hot on his trail behind a lamppost making sure to not be seen. Her parents were both busy with their respective workloads and she managed to take a break from her usual training regimen with her grandfather to escape into the open. Having seen Menma, she started to trail him to observe what he was up to but didn't have the courage to go up to him. Thus she decided to remain in the shadows.

Just as Menma was about the exit the village though, he saw someone he had never seen before. This person certainly caught his eyes. He stared in awe at the slender orange haired woman standing next to the entrance. Although he never met her before, something about her felt so very familiar to him.

The Mizukage, Mei Terumi and her bodyguard Chojuro were the second to arrive at Konoha. She thought perhaps taking a nice stroll around Konoha would be a good idea. Just like the Tsuchikage, she rejected the offers of the Konoha shinobi to show her around. Although attention was nice, she wasn't feeling like being formal right now. Mei just wanted to be herself and have a good time. With those thoughts in mind, she looked around only to find a boy that instantly caught her attention. This boy oddly enough had the same hair colour as her and at closer inspection; his eyes were almost similar in hue to her own with some minor differences. What a coincidence she thought, but her interest was piqued to go over to the child and introduce herself, who was watching her intently.

"Nice to meet you young man." She greeted. "I'm Mei, Terumi Mei. You are?"

"I'm Menma." He replied cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you too, although I can't say I've seen you around here before."

"Menma…that's a very beautiful name. Indeed I'm not from this village and wanted to have a look around. I was hoping to find a resident of this village who could perhaps show me the best spots."

"If you are okay with me, then I could definitely show you around." Menma looked as excited as ever getting to know this person. She was so kind.

"That would be an honour." Mei clasped her hands together in joy. Something about this child was compelling her to spend more time with him; perhaps the emptiness that she felt never having being able to hold her own child, or perhaps her mother's instinct. Either way she was happy.

"M-Mizukage-sama, I think you should perhaps reconsider your choice if you wish for a local escort around Konoha." Chojuro objected. "I'm mean he's just a ch-"

Before he could finish his sentence though, Mei had moved next to him in an instant.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." She whispered into his ears loud enough only for him to hear.

"HEEEEH!" Chojuro screamed falling on to his back in shock.

"Well then, you can go take a break for a while. I'll be going on a tour with little Menma over here around Konoha."

"I'll come along as well of course." Chojuro insisted getting back up on his feet.

"NO! You'll be taking a break. That was not a suggestion, it was an order."

The ferocity of Mei's words caused Chojuro to fall back down once again as Mei and Menma walked away within Konoha.

"Thanks a lot for escorting me around Menma." Mei said with a smile. "It's very kind of you."

"Oh no, not at all." He scratched his head shyly. "I'm happy to be able to show Konoha to someone from a different place. Actually, now that I think about it, where are you from miss?"

"Awww, that's so kind of you to call me miss." Mei appreciated those who called her young, even though she was now in her forties.

"Well, why is that?" Menma seemed somewhat confused. "You look very young to me miss."

"Actually I'm in my forties." Mei admitted. Even though she normally wouldn't admit her age in front of others, Menma made her happy with his previous comment.

"WHOA no way!" He was shocked. "You could be my mother."

That statement hit Mei like a ton of bricks. Now that he brought it up, Mei realised that if her own son was alive, he would have probably been just this boy's age. Sadness was starting to permeate through her when she managed to compose herself since she had company.

"Speaking about your mother, tell me a bit more about yourself." Mei asked nicely. "Like your parents and your siblings."

"I don't have any." Menma said in a slightly sad tone, which would be missed by most. He was just used to answering this sort of things.

"Sorry?" Mei didn't quite catch his abrupt answers.

"I am an orphan. I don't have a family." Menma said straight with a feeling of emptiness in his voice.

"I-I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I didn't realise it."

"It's okay, I don't mind." The boy felt a bit awkward about the situation but decided to turn it around. "But I know some great people. The best of them all is the hokage."

"The hokage? How so?" Mei asked somewhat in surprise, but knowing Naruto, it didn't come as too much of a shock.

"He always visits me and helps me out whenever I need it. He keeps me company and takes me to have ramen. Not to mention, the hokage's wife's cooking is AMAZING! Oh and I also got to meet with his daughter and the two of us have become great friends, as well as rivals. But I don't know why she acts kind of shy around me. It's a bit weird. Anyway, the hokage and his family are AWESOME! You should definitely meet him sometime."

From all the information he relayed, Mei could gather that the boy really liked Naruto and his family, which made her feel pleased knowing that his kid wasn't completely alone in this world.

"I'm sure I'll get to meet the hokage soon." Mei could only smile at what her statement truly meant, which would go unnoticed by Menma. He didn't know her true identity after all.

"Talking about ramen, we're here at the best place in Konoha." Menma pointed towards Ichiraku's stand.

"A ramen stand?" Mei asked in a confused tone.

"It's not just a ramen stand; it's a super ramen stand." Menma explained the pride and joy of Konoha. "Hokage approved. So you wanna give it a try?"

"I….think I'll pass. I'm on a diet." Mei could only sweat drop at the choice of place Menma brought her to. He was a kid after all, but at least his intentions were pure. "Can you show me some other place?"

"Awww…I was hoping you could try out the ramen, but I guess it can't be helped if you are on a diet." Menma was a bit disheartened, but he soon composed himself. "Let's move on to the next place."

After a few minutes of walking, he brought Mei to the ninja academy.

"This place is the ninja academy. This is where all the kids go to become ninja." Menma ran over to the swing by the tree and stood on it as Mei walked over to his position.

"I see, so this is Konoha's famous ninja academy that brings out such great shinobi." Mei said looking around. Since she saw him standing still, she decided to give the swing a gentle push to let the boy enjoy a ride.

Menma was ecstatic at being able to enjoy the swing. It wasn't every day that the swing was available and neither did he have someone to play with him either. On the other hand, a feeling of loneliness pervaded Mei as she thought about how she was robbed of her opportunity to spend many moments like this with her own child.

"Someday I want to go to this academy and become a ninja who will protect Konoha." Menma told Mei one of his aspirations.

"I'm sure you will." Mei patted him on the head to show that she definitely believed in him.

"Okay then, let's move on to the next destination." Menma said jumping off the swing.

In a little while after walking, the two were standing in front of the hokage's tower.

"This is the hokage's tower. This is where the hokage does all his work. But more importantly, you can see the hokage monument very well from up there. Those monuments show all the previous hokages of this village." Menma explained enthusiastically. "Unfortunately though I don't think it's possible to enter right now given that you need an appointment of some kind to meet him."

"That is unfortunate, especially since the view from the top would be quite spectacular." Mei said remembering the view that Naruto showed the rest of the kages when they first came to visit Konoha under his leadership.

"Well, it's okay because I've got a lot more places to show you." Menma now grabbed hold of her hand without realising and started to drag her to their next destination. This surprised Mei quite a bit but she played along nonetheless as she felt a great sense of enjoyment just being in the boy's company, unlike that she felt with anyone else.

Menma dragged her all the way across Konoha taking her to the park, shops and all the regular spots he visited. Once he had finally exhausted all his ideas, he finally stopped in front of his own apartment complex.

"And what might this place be?" Mei asked excitedly, wanting to know what the next innocent destination might be.

"This is my house." He declared. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure, I'd like to see where you live."

The two walked up the stairs to the second floor where he opened the door to his small apartment and welcomed her into his living room.

"This is my home." Menma said doing a circle in position. "I don't remember leaving it so cleaned up earlier but what do you think?"

"Oh wow this place is quite well kept." Mei complimented seeing as how a kid was able to live alone by himself. She decided to take a little tour of the house and found things to be in decent enough order. Little did she know that it was Naruto who dropped a shadow clone by on his way to work to sort out the house.

"Oh wait, since I've invited you in, I should be a good host and serve lunch." Menma started rummaging through his kitchen closet to find two cups of instant ramen. "Here they are; the best instant ramen in town."

"I don't think you should be eating that for lunch." Mei sighed at the ramen addiction of the boy, but she could sympathise with the fact that the boy didn't have parents like other children did who would constantly chide him for his eating habits. She wondered how she would have done so for her own child if he were alive. "Do you have any proper food?"

"Not you too. All the adults say that ramen isn't good, but it tastes great."

"If you want to become a big and strong shinobi, then I'm afraid you'll have to eat properly."

"But I don't have anything else…"

"That would be because you threw them all in the trash can." She gave him somewhat of a cross look.

"Chhh, didn't think I'd get caught. You are good."

"I guess you could call it intuition." Mei looked in the refrigerator and the shelves to find whatever little supplies of food he had stored. "I'll try and make something out of what you have leftover."

"Why bother? Let's just eat ramen."

"As I said before, you need to eat proper food or you'll never grow up to be strong. Then you won't be able to protect those you love. Do you want that?" She asked a rhetorical question.

"I guess not…" Menma looked away in defeat.

"Then how about you help me by setting up the tableware while I cook something?"

"Sure." He replied and started to bring out all the eating utensils and setting up the small dining table.

Before long Mei finished cooking the one dish that she could with the ingredients available and served it at the table for the two of them to enjoy. As she was about to eat herself she noticed that the boy wasn't eating and neither did he look like he was in the mood to eat.

"What's the matter? Mei gave him a concerned look.

"I don't like this." Menma looked at the vegetable stew with distaste.

"Come on now, at least give it a try before you dismiss it."

"I don't care; I don't feel like eating." He set his spoon aside disobediently.

Mei took a spoonful of the stew and held it in front of his mouth.

"Now be a good boy and open your mouth." She said with a beautiful smile.

"No." He flat out rejected.

"I made this for you and I'm even trying to feed it to you nicely. But if this goes on any longer…." Mei closed her eyes as her smile turned into a frown; a hideous frown that one wouldn't imagine could possibly form on her face. "You DON'T want to make me angry."

"I'LL EAT, I'LL EAT!" Menma cried out in fear and took the spoonful immediately.

"So, what do you think?" The smile once again returned to Mei's face.

"This is actually unexpectedly good." The boy was genuinely surprised, as could be seen from his face.

"I'm glad that you like it. Now, open wide for the second spoon." She instructed happily as Menma started listening to her diligently.

Mei was so occupied in feeding the little boy that she forgot to eat her own food. She was enacting out for the first time all the scenarios she imagined spending with her child when she was pregnant with her boy. These were the moments that were long lost from her and ever since then she yearned for them in vain, only finally finding them now. Once Menma finished eating, he fell asleep on the dining table while Mei ate her own food. Once done eating, she carried the boy over to his room and gently put him down on the bed. She sat next to him and looked at his peaceful sleeping face closely, until she could no longer resist the urge to caress his cheeks. For some reason, the more she looked at him, the more he reminded her of the son she never had.

"If only you were born as my child, then perhaps we could have lived together like this every day." Mei whispered as tears started to well up in her eyes. She wiped them off but they overflowed against her will. All her pain that she thought she had suppressed over the years resurfaced as though a previous wound had been torn open. She could no longer withstand the agony and got up quickly from the bedside to take her leave. But just as she stood up and started to walk, she felt something tug on the edge of her dress.

"Mother…please don't leave me." Menma said in a desperate voice in his sleep, his true feelings. "I'm so lonely without you."

Mei's heart resonated with Menma's as she understood that this child shared the same kind of pain she did not having ever seen his parents. They were one and the same. With that thought, Mei took her seat once again and held Menma in a comforting hug.

While Menma was asleep, he was witnessing the same dream right now that he always did. It was a dream where he would be standing in a white void until he would see a woman that he knew was his mother. He would chase after her while calling out to her with all his might but she would just walk away from him, and he would never be able to catch her. He would only ever see her back as she walked away and never be able to see her face and eventually while running after her, he would trip and fall, waking up from his dream.

Today seemed to be no different. His mother was walking away from him as always while he chased after her. He knew how this was going to end but refused to give up.

"Mother…please don't leave me." He called out desperately. "I'm so lonely without you."

When he started to lose his balance, the woman stopped and turned around for the first time ever. To his astonishment, it was the same woman he had been escorting since earlier, Mei Terumi. Before he lost his balance, his mother caught him in a tight embrace, making him feel a form of everlasting peace he had never felt before.

Suddenly, he jolted upright from his bed in shock of the unusual ending to his usual dream. Even more to his surprise, he saw the same woman sitting just a few inches in front of him that he saw in the dream.

"What's the matter?" Mei asked in a concerned tone putting her palm on his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." He shook his body and regained his usual energetic posture. "Actually I'm feeling great."

"I guess that quick nap must have done wonders." Mei smiled back at him wholeheartedly.

"Absolutely!" He acknowledged. "I almost forgot. I still need to do my training for today."

"Training?" She asked. "Aren't you perhaps a bit too young to train by yourself?"

"I need to train so that everyone will acknowledge my strength. Then someday, I can become hokage." He said, not a word of it in mere jest.

She could see the passion burning in his eyes.

"_If only we had someone like him with such a strong will, then I could pass on my title of Mizukage someday and rest assured that the village would be in good hands." She thought to herself in awe, but alas, this boy was a resident of Konoha._

"I can see how dedicated you are." Mei acknowledged. "Then how about I help you with your training a bit?"

"I'm glad that you want to help, but that kind of ninja training can't be done by any random person." He said apprehensively.

"I don't think you realise who I am do you?" Mei gave a foxy smile. "I guess I'll tell you: I'm the Mizukage."

"What's a Mizukage?" Menma asked scratching his head. "Is that something you can drink?"

"No silly, I'm the leader of Kirigakure." She sighed.

"Come again." Menma didn't quite catch, or perhaps didn't believe what he was hearing.

"To put it in simple terms, I'm like the hokage of Kirigakure."

"NO WAY!" Menma jumped up in his bed in excitement. "If you are the Mizukage, then that means you must be really strong like the hokage. You must have some super special awesome secret technique. Right? RIGHT?"

"I-I guess I do have some…" She was somewhat taken aback by his overwhelming enthusiasm.

"Then let's waste no time. Let's go" He dragged her out through the window. After jumping from roof to roof, the two exited the village and arrived near a small stream with little pebbles scattered across the banksides. "Show me some secret technique. I want to see. I REALLY want to see."

"Since you were such a great host, I'll show you one of my secret techniques that only a handful of people can use." Mei pointed her fingers towards the water, causing large stones to be pushed out from underneath the stream by the water, and making them land in front of the two. "Now stand back, as this can be a bit of a dangerous technique if you aren't careful.

"Make sure you do it slowly and step by step so that I can see what you are doing." Menma was pumped up beyond belief. He couldn't contain himself.

"Alright, first you make these handsigns." She did the respective handsigns for the jutsu for him to see. "Next, you take in a deep breath. Then you concentrate on the air that you feel is in your lungs. Keep increasing the concentration of the air itself to make it highly acidic. Once it's ready, exhale."

Once she finished explaining, she did all the steps in sequence to demonstrate.

"Vapour Style (Futton): Solid Fog Technique (Kumo no Jutsu)" Mei exhaled a stream of mist from her mouth that melted the stones as though they were ice cubes placed in a sauna.

"WHOA, THAT'S AMAZING!" Menma jumped in joy while the mist dissipated. "I wanna try now."

"Unfortunately you can't do the technique even if you wanted." Mei looked at him sadly, feeling bad at breaking his hopes. "It's a bloodline related jutsu."

Before the conversation could go any further, Chojuro showed up out of nowhere.

"Mizukage-sama, there has been some urgent correspondence from Kirigakure that requires your presence." He said formally.

"I guess it can't be helped. It seems I'll have to take my leave. I had a great time today. When you grow up a bit more, be sure to visit us in Kirigakure, and next time I'll be the host." Mei hunched down and gave Menma another hug. "Promise me you'll eat proper food okay?"

"I promise." He answered back sincerely, feeling an unknown sense of attachment to her; a bond that could not be broken. "And I'll definitely visit you someday."

"I look forward to that day." Mei turned around and looked back at him once again. It was painful for her to part ways, but she felt that they would meet again someday. "Take care and goodbye."

With those final words, Mei and Chojuro disappeared, leaving Menma by himself.

Before she truly left though, Mei jumped behind a tree further away and landed right next to Yuhi, who was watching them all along.

"You are quite dedicated when it comes to him." Mei smiled at the girl who blushed at her statement. "Keep doing your best. I support you."

This time Mei finally disappeared leaving Yuhi to watch Menma from afar.

"She said something about this bloodline thing, but you never know until you try."

Menma made the same handsigns he observed Mei make and inhaled in a lot of air, doing his best to concentrate it as much as he could.

"Vapour Style: Solid Fog Technique" Menma exhaled a misty air from his mouth that managed to melt a few pebbles on the ground. It was nowhere near as powerful as Mei's but he at least managed to produce some results in his first try.

"She thought I couldn't do it, but that wasn't too bad for a first attempt." Menma felt proud of himself. "I guess it isn't anything to celebrate about, but if I keep on trying though, I'm sure I can improve on it. Then someday, I can surprise her by showing her own technique to her."

Menma was excited at the prospect when he suddenly heard a sound of clapping nearby. He turned around to see who it was but didn't manage to find anyone in his sight. He decided it must have been his imagination and carried on with his training.

Yuhi currently ran at full speed. She mistakenly clapped in her excitement when she saw Menma managing to pull off Mei's technique successfully in his first go, only to realise that her cover was blown. Thus she was running away with all her might.

* * *

So there you have it. His maternal lineage was quite obvious, but now his paternal lineage is also solidified. I stretched the canon a bit on his father's side, but it seemed to fit my vision, so I went ahead anyway. Either way, the whole enmity between Kiri and Iwa is canon, so I thought this would be quite an interesting development. But more importantly, this was more of a chapter where a mother and son who were separated at birth could interact.

Anyway, here's a question I've been wondering myself and can't seem to reach a conclusion: Who do you think is stronger purely from their bloodlines, Yuhi or Menma? Of course things like Sage mode don't count as those are not genetic. So in that regard, purely from their bloodlines-Lava/Vapour/Particle styles, etc for Menma and Uzumaki/Hyuga, etc for Yuhi, who is stronger?

If you have been wondering as to why I've been focusing on Menma a bit as of late, then there's a good reason for that. You'll find out ;)

Anyway, before I finished off this chapter, I'd like to let you all know that I won't be updating for a few weeks since my exams are about to begin. Once they are over though, expect me to come back full force since it'll be summer break and I'll have a lot more time at hand to update the story. And update it I will with some major events. So stay tuned and be well. I will see you all in a few weeks time :)


	32. Continuing Lineages

**Continuing Lineages**

Hey everyone. I had this chapter semi-done for quite a while now. So I decided to put this up.

* * *

Yuhi was running full speed through Konoha when suddenly she was stopped dead in her tracks and lifted off the ground unexpectedly.

"Konohamaru-niisan!" Yuhi called out in surprise as she was rapidly spun around by Konohamaru making her head go completely dizzy.

"YUHI I HAVE GREAT NEWS!" Konohamaru shouted in joy.

But Yuhi gave no reply.

"I SAID I HAD GREAT NEWS YUHI!" Konohamaru said again continuing to spin her around.

"Auauauauauau" At this point Yuhi didn't even know her left from her right let alone being able to reply back.

"Oh snap!" Konohamaru finally realised his course of action and decided to put her on the ground. "Sorry about that. I was just a bit too excited I guess. Anyway, are you okay?"

"Y-Yea…I think I'm okay." Yuhi rubbed her ahead trying to orientate herself once again. "What is it that you wanted to say?"

"Yes about that…YOU'RE GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!" Konohamaru yelled loudly while engulfing her in a massive hug.

Konohamaru's message was relayed out so loud that all the people passing nearby just stopped dead in their tracks from the news as their jaws dropped. It almost felt like the area had come to a standstill.

"Huh?" Yuhi was at loss for words. She still couldn't quite comprehend the message that was replayed upon her.

"I just came from the Hyuga compound with the news." Konohamaru said excitedly. "Anyway, I need to go spread the message around to everyone, so make sure to head over to the Hyuga compound. Actually you might want to visit your father first. I'm off."

With those words Konohamaru disappeared.

Yuhi was still dumbfounded at the turn of events. The information was taking it's time to soak in as she tried to understand what the meaning of it all was. Finally she decided to heed the advice of Konohamaru and head to her father in the Hokage's tower who would hopefully be able to fill her in a bit more on the details. But unfortunately for her, all the villagers around her who had listened in to their conversation had the same idea. This was big news and they needed some solid details. In the few seconds that had passed since Konohamaru left, the news was spreading like wildfire as people left their work and rushed towards the Hokage's tower. Yuhi didn't even have to bother heading towards her father as she was pushed towards that destination by the stampede of people in that general direction.

Naruto as always was trying to stay on top of his work, which always seemed to stay on top of him, literally. He was currently buried under a gigantic pile of paperworks trying to swim his way out of despair.

Shikamaru walked in with a cup of tea to almost drop it at the sight of what was in front of him. He was only gone for 10 minutes and Naruto was already in a spectacular mess.

"What have you done Naruto?" Shikamaru asked while walking over to find Naruto, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Save me Shikamaru…" Came a cry of plea as Naruto extended a hand out from under the pile of paperworks as though he were a zombie.

"What a drag…" Shikamaru almost dropped his cup of tea while trying to ease the migraine that was being induced by Naruto's current state.

While things weren't certainly looking good inside the hokage's office, suddenly a stampede of people started to shake almost the ground itself. A mob could be heard just outside the tower.

"W-What's going on?" Naruto asked nervously.

"WHOA, there's a huge mob of people surrounding the tower." Shikamaru informed while looking out of the window.

Naruto looked outside as well and recoiled backwards in fear.

"Oh man they don't look too happy." Naruto said while biting his fingernails. "Maybe they are here to overthrow me as hokage. Maybe they got fed up of my incompetence. Maybe I haven't done enough paperworks. Maybe I've been eating too much ramen…WAIT I'll fight for ramen no matter what. They may take my title of hokage! They may even take away my life! But they'll NEVER take my RAMEN!"

"Calm down man, I highly doubt they're all here to stop you from eating ramen. I think we should investigate further."

At that moment Yuhi burst in through the door to meet her father.

"Yuhi, why are you here? What's going on?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Daddy I met Konohamaru-niisan. He said I was going to be a big sister."

"Yeah of course, how could I forget to tell you that you were going to be a bi-WHY DIDN'T NOONE TELL ME I WAS GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY?" Naruto shouted from the abrupt news.

"Are you serious Yuhi?" Even Shikamaru was taken aback by the information. "That would explain the people outside. The hokage having a kid is big news. Did Konohamaru say anything else though because he hasn't come in for work today?"

"He said that he came from the Hyuga compound where he heard the news himself." Yuhi recalled.

"Let's go." Naruto grabbed Yuhi and disappeared.

"He sure doesn't waste time…and now I'm left to deal with this mess…as always." Shikamaru sighed. "Life is so troublesome."

Naruto bypassed the outer entrance to the Hyuga clan and barged in through the air, dropping down just outside the clan leader's office. The compound was eerily empty for a time like this. He didn't bother knocking on the door and rushed into the room to find Hinata sitting at her usual place. She looked up in surprise at the unexpected visitors.

"Hinata-chan, is the news true?" Naruto asked while taking deep breaths of anxiety.

"So Konohamaru-kun already spread it around I see." Hinata said with a smile.

"Does that mean Yuhi will be a big sister?" Naruto asked to confirm.

"Does that mean I'll be a big sister?" Yuhi also asked at the same time.

"To answer both of your questions, yes."

Yuhi's eyes widened from excitement but Naruto was still having a hard time understanding the prospect.

"But but but how is it possible? We haven't had s-" Naruto slapped his mouth shut realising his daughter's presence. "It's not that I have any qualms about it or anything but are you sure about this?"

At that moment he heard a lot of noise from outside the room. It seemed something was going on outside, some kind of mass celebration. Hanabi walked into the room to find her sister's family visiting as well.

"So you are here as well. I wish Konohamaru didn't make such a big deal about it." Hanabi blushed slightly. "Sister, the checkups are complete and it seems I'm due within 8 months."

"W-What are you talking about Hanabi-chan?" Naruto was dumbfounded.

"Of course she's talking about her child Naruto-kun." Hinata explained kindly. "Hanabi is pregnant."

"Eh?" Naruto gave Hanabi a blank look for a second before the emotions poured into his face. "EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"

"Come on now, no need to be so shocked Naruto-niichan." Konohamaru said while walking in. "I'm going to be a father too now."

Naruto crept up to Konohamaru's side and used his hand to block his voice escaping as he directly talked into Konohamaru's ear.

"You've only been married for like 3 months. How the heck did you manage to knock her up already?" Naruto whispered.

"Heh?" Konohamaru blushed slightly from the question which caused the two women in the room to give him weird glances.

"Don't gimme that you perv. I know you all too well." Naruto poked his sides with his index finger.

"Let's just say I put that one month I had off after marriage to good use, if you know what I mean…hehehehehehe." Konohamaru smiled like a true pervert.

"Ero-sennin would approve." Naruto laughed along with him.

"What are you two talking about?" Hanabi asked with a disgusted look. "You're being creepy."

The door opened once again and this time it was Hiashi who barged in, his happiness evident from his face. Behind him, Hyuga upon Hyuga were carrying in all sorts of children's toys, accessories, clothing, etc. that one could imagine through the main entrance.

"I have bought all children's accessories that I could find in the village." Hiashi declared proudly.

"F-Father, what have you done?" Hanabi looked in awe at the endless stream of stuff being carried into the compound.

"OHHHH!" Konohamaru exclaimed in joy. "We are now prepared for the child."

"You are naïve my dear son-in-law." Hiashi moved his head sideways with his hand folded across his chest. "This is only just the beginning. This village is not enough. We must set across the land of fire to find all the children's accessories possible. Then we must continue onwards in this grand adventure."

"YES HIASHI-SAMA!" Konohamaru nodded obediently. "I understand now what we must do. We must traverse the lands. Let us set sail for the grand line…FOR CHILDREN'S ACCESSORIES! The future of our clans depends on it."

"You'll be doing NO SUCH THING!" Hanabi Jukened Konohamaru straight to the floor as a vain in her forehead popped out. "Stop fanning his flames father. You know how crazy he can be."

"Hanabi, you mustn't get angry." Konohamaru quickly held her hand with a serious look in his eyes. "It could be bad for you and our child. I don't want anything happening to either one of you. You are both very precious to me."

At his unusual response Hanabi's cheeks became a deep red in colour. She couldn't even form a proper reply.

"Good to see you acting so responsibly." Naruto rubbed Konohamaru's head like a big brother. "Although you may not look like it but when it comes to it you can be quite the man Konohamaru. Congrats on becoming a father and to you too Hanabi for becoming a mother."

"I'm the grandson of the third hokage after all." Konohamaru reminded everyone proudly. "I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, and my son will be the one who carries on my lineage."

Naruto reminisced about the old man who had supported him in his childhood and at this moment he could definitely see a part of him inside Konohamaru.

"Well the child will be a Hyuga as well." Hiashi reminded his son in law.

"He'll be a Sarutobi first." Konohamaru countered.

With that an argument ensued at which clan would have the greater influence on the yet to be born child.

"Konohamaru-niisan and Hanabi-neesan are going to have a baby." Yuhi reeled in excitement. "That means I'll get to be a big sister myself."

"That's right." Hanabi said while patting her gently on the head. "So you have to make sure to be a responsible big sister as well okay?"

Yuhi nodded earnestly as she couldn't wait to meet her little cousin. With those feelings in place the memory ended.

"Wow…first Hinata-sama and now Hanabi-sama." Present Neji was in shock. "The Hyuga clan is really expanding rapidly."

"Just kill me. Kill me now." Hanabi said in defeat. "I don't want to live in this reality."

"H-Hey, you don't have to act like that." Konohamaru tried to reconcile with her for the first time. "That is our child you know."

"What are you talking about?" Hanabi gave him a look of disbelief.

"I'm glad to know that I get to become a father." Konohamaru gave her a gentle smile. "I love children."

"Stay away. Stay well away from me. Maintain at least a distance of one light year from me." Hanabi ordered in paranoia.

While their usual bickering was taking an unusual turn, Shikamaru pointed out something he noticed to the others.

"You guys saw that too right, the part where Menma used the same technique as the Mizukage. Given that they can both use the same bloodline and they have so many physical similarities, I can only conclude that he is her son."

"I thought the same." Sai concurred. "It was rather disheartening to see the two of them meeting yet not knowing what their true relation is."

"Actually what the old man Tsuchikage said also does match up." Naruto explained. "I've heard that the Tsuchikage's grandson and the Mizukage are talking about getting married. I wouldn't have thought such tragic events would follow their union and their son would eventually end up in my care, but I'll have to do what I can to prevent the tragedy from happening here. I'll let them know about this, although I don't know how much they'll actually believe. But it is what I must do. I don't want to see any child being orphaned while I can help it."

"That is indeed the best course of action." Shikamaru agreed.

Naruto's friends could also understand his point of view. His childhood was indeed a painful one without any family. Thus he wished no one else would have to endure what he underwent.

"By the way Shikamaru, your future self looks like he's really enjoying himself." Kiba laughed out loud making his comment to break up the heavy atmosphere.

"Hah, that's true my friend." Chouji couldn't help but see the irony. "You complain about everything being so troublesome, but then you go and take the most troublesome job of being the hokage's advisor."

"Seriously, don't even joke about it." Shikamaru sighed just like his future self. "I'm rethinking if I really want this new position after having seen these memories."

"What are you talking about Shikamaru? Your position is permanent. If you decide to even think about quitting now I'll file you in for treason and put you behind bars. You have the sworn duty of serving me…FOREVER!" Naruto gave the most evil grin he had ever conjured that even made Sasuke flinch in place.

Shikamaru could only hold his head in despair in light of the future.

"This is too troublesome. WAY too troublesome."

* * *

There you have it. Konohamaru and Hanabi's child incoming. It'll be a boy.

I'd like to say sorry for the short length of the chapter, even by my standards. This is mainly because this is more of a chapter that segues into something bigger. As I said in the last chapter, there are some pretty big events coming up. In fact, next chapter will mark the beginning of a new mini-arc for this story that will span several chapters where we are going to stop the memory viewing and move on to something else entirely. We will be going 20 or so years in the future to the time where it all began. Essentially it'll be about what happened before the antagonist travelled back in time. More importantly, it'll be a huge blowout as it'll have a lot of new characters such as the children of most of the Konoha 11.

And that is where this chapter comes in because in the next chapter you'll see Konohamaru's son completely grown up. It'll also feature Sasuke's son. If you guys know my naming conventions by now, try and take a guess on what their children's names are going to be. It'll be fun to see if you are right. Don't worry I won't troll and change them. They are fixed.

Anyway with that said, I'll see you all next time. As an ending note, I guess I'll tell you the name of the arc. It'll be called **"Dark Future Arc: Destruction Of Konoha"**.


	33. Dark Future: Destruction of Konoha Pt 1

**Dark Future Arc: Destruction of Konoha Part 1**

Alright here it is, the new arc and I've been planning this for quite some time now. As I've said before, the memories are going to be stopping for a while. These are simply events that happened before all the time travel that took. So these are essentially events from even further into the future than the time from which Yuhi came from. Just a small reminder: Yuhi (the one who time travelled back) is 9 years from the future and this is 25 years into the future, so there's quite a big gap between those two times.

* * *

This is not a memory, but rather an event that takes place 25 years in the future. It is a story of the original timeline from where it all began, before the dark figure travelled back in time, which in turn led to Yuhi's time travel. It is a tale of Konoha's destruction…

"Summoning: Eight Tailed Beasts." The dark figure said in a deadly tone.

It was past midnight in Konoha. Almost the entire village was asleep. So was the only man currently present in the hokage's tower. Sarutobi Konohamaru, currently in his mid-forties was sound asleep while sitting on his chair and leaning on the hokage's work table. He was drooling all over the paperworks he had so begrudgingly filled out while doing overtime. The hokage's work was most certainly not easy, but Konohamaru had gotten used to it having been in that position for over 10 years now. Unfortunately for him, his comfortable sleep was suddenly broken by a gigantic earthquake that shook the entire village itself, causing Konohamaru to jump up in shock.

"W-What just happened?" He said while looking left and right. The room was now a complete mess. To be more exact, it was already a mess before, but it only got even messier since the earthquake caused windows to shatter and various objects in the room to break apart. The constant shaking of the earth continued on without end.

"Hokage-sama, we have urgent news." An Anbu appeared out of thin air in front of Konohamaru's now toppled desk. "You must come to the roof immediately."

Konohamaru wasted no time as the two ninjas disappeared from the hokage's office and reappeared on the roof of the tower which was populated by over a dozen Anbu who all appeared restless even though they were meant to be able to face any situation calmly.

As Konohamaru looked towards the entrance of the village, his heart almost stopped. At the horizon, all the tailed beasts bar the nine tailed fox were making their way towards Konoha. Their hostility was clearly visible and if left to their own devices, there would be nothing left of Konoha once they were through with it.

"They're coming in for the attack. What course of action do we take Hokage-sama?" One of the Anbus asked in a sense of urgency as the ground shook even more while the beasts got ever closer. Soon enough screams of the general populous were starting to permeate the village as they realised the impending danger they were faced with. They didn't know where to go. It wasn't like one could escape the rampage of one tailed beast, let alone eight of them at once. It was utter chaos.

"Give me a report immediately from the barrier squad." Konohamaru ordered in haste.

"I have horrible news hokage-sama." Another Anbu said while jumping in. "The entire barrier squad has been wiped out. The only intelligence I was able to receive was that a man shrouded in some kind of dark aura was seen on the spot before he took them all out."

"This can't be…could it be that man?" Konohamaru gasped in horror. "The one who stole the eight tailed beast from Killer Bee and left the Raikage at the brink of death."

"I cannot say for sure, but it seems likely." The Anbu replied courteously.

"This is then no ordinary attack." Konohamaru warned. "We must take action. Evacuate all civilians immediately and alert every active shinobi to be ready to take action at moment's notice. Code is black. Now disperse."

"YES!" Every Anbu replied at once and disappeared from the roof within a second.

"There's no running away from this one; we've no choice but to face this head on." Konohamaru made several hand seals in a flash. "Summoning jutsu: Adamantine Staff."

With a poof of smoke a staff very much like that of his late grandfather appeared in front of him. The only difference being the edges were golden in colour as opposed to yellow of his grandfather's. Konohamaru proceeded to grab the staff and jump from roof to roof until he reached the tallest structure in Konoha, a long lightning rod on top of a huge building.

From here he could clearly see the entirety of Konoha. People were running away from their homes towards the emergency evacuation site towards the back end of the village, abandoning everything they had. All he could hear were cries of distress as people fled for their lives. As he looked in front, he saw the reason why. The sight of a tailed beast would cause almost any human to run for their lives, but eight of them would be enough to scare a person to death. His instincts were telling him to run away as far as he could. To stand against such monstrosities would be nothing but a death wish. But Konohamaru knew that as hokage it was his duty to stand tall at the face of adversary, no matter how overwhelming, for the sake of the village. The lives of the villagers were precious to him and he would fight to death if necessary to protect them.

"It's okay Konohamaru-kun. You're not alone; I'm here to support you." The staff that he held consoled him.

"Thanks Erza, you're loyal and kind as always." Konohamaru gave a wry smile to his lifelong summoning partner. "Together we will fight even these beasts until the very end."

"Father, the Sarutobi clan is here to support you." Someone shouted out from a rooftop next to the lightning rod he was standing on.

As Konohamaru looked, it was none other than his eldest son, 16 years of age, Hiruzen Sarutobi who stood in his battle attire with a very stoic expression. Hiruzen was a boy who was ever serious and unmoved no matter what the odds he was up against. This showed as he looked at the tailed beasts the most unflinchingly from among all the Sarutobi that arrived with him. The same unfortunately could not be said for the boy one year younger standing right next to him.

"WHOA! This doesn't look too good." The black haired boy said with surprise. "Could it be perhaps possible that those tailed beasts are just coming to say hi maybe?"

"ASUMA, this is NO time to joke around." Hiruzen scolded his younger brother.

"Hiruzen, Asuma, you're all here." Konohamaru looked towards the members of his clan with gratitude who were ready to make a stand with him.

At that moment, a young girl landed right behind all the Sarutobi.

"I'm here to help too." The young girl, who was a year younger than Asuma said in a shaky voice. Hiruzen and Asuma's sister was trying her best to keep her calm even in such a dire situation.

"HINATA, what are you doing here?" Hiruzen turned to face his sister, who had long black hair and was very similar in appearance and was named after a certain other person of the same name who was also once part of the Hyuga clan many years ago. Also, amongst the three siblings, young Hinata was the only one who had received the Byakugan from her mother's side and as such there were very high expectations placed upon her from both the Sarutobi clan as well as the Hyuga clan. Sometimes it felt to her that those expectations were too overbearing and she was letting people down. To top it off, Hiruzen was known among the Sarutobi as one of the most gifted to be born into the clan in generations, perhaps as much if not more so than the shinobi he was named after. All this lead to Hinata becoming somewhat shy and self-conscious as she tried to cope with the responsibilities of being born to parents from two of the most influential clans in Konoha.

"I-I can fight too n-nii-san." She tried to argue her case.

"NO, you will turn around and leave IMMEDIATELY!" Hiruzen ordered with a very stern face. "You do not yet have the strength to face such a threat."

"B-But-"

"NO BUTS!" Hiruzen cut her off. "LEAVE NOW!"

Hinata looked down towards the floor in sadness as her older brother turned away from her. She felt completely heart-broken to not be able to help her clan even at a time of crisis such as this. Perhaps she was useless after all. When tears almost started to form in her eyes, she felt someone's hand gently caress her head. She looked up to find her other sibling smiling warmly at her.

"Don't be sad Hinata. You know how big brother is. He doesn't mean bad towards you; he's just looking out for your wellbeing in his own way." Asuma explained kindly to her as he was the one who always looked out for his little sister whenever she felt down.

"B-But onii-chan, I'm not strong enough, that's why…"

"That's not true Hinata; you are plenty strong." Asuma interjected. "You are the only one among us who has inherited the power of both the Sarutobi and the Hyuga. Plus you always do your best. But you're still young Hinata, so it will take some time before you can discover your true potential. That is why we want you to be safe so that one day you can become someone great."

"Really?" Hinata asked almost feeling like crying.

"Of course." Asuma said ruffling her hair a bit. "We all believe in you Hinata; that is why we have such high expectations of you. So for now, run along and be safe okay?"

"Yes." Hinata agreed turning around from the rest. "Thank you onii-chan."

With her last words of gratitude she jumped off the rooftop. Konohamaru could only breathe a sigh of relief to know his daughter would be somewhat safe. Although he cared for all three of his children, he had a soft spot in his heart for Hinata. But his worries overtook him once again as the tailed beasts got closer.

"Sorry it took us a while Hokage-sama." The head of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba said while landing on top of Akamaru on the ground below right next to where Konohamaru was standing, following him were a whole bunch of Inuzuka each with their own dogs. "The Inuzuka clan is ready for action."

"Inuzuka clan!" Konohamaru exclaimed in joy seeing all the members of one of Konoha's most prominent clans take formation to support him.

The next moment the entire skyline was filled with hundreds, no, thousands of insects as Konohamaru turned to face the Aburame on the rooftop behind him.

"Aburame clan…on standby." Shino said as calmly as ever while standing along with the members of his clans.

"Aburame clan is here too." Konohamaru said now looking at one of Konoha's noble clans.

Right then, a human the size of a building appeared next to him.

"I'll protect Konoha with my own body as will the Akimichi clan." A gigantic Chouji announced while clasping his hands together.

"This is one of the most troublesome situations I've ever been part of, and believe me I have been part of a LOT of troublesome situations, but I'll help in strategizing a plan to overcome these impossible odds." Shikamaru and the rest of the Nara landed on top of the building to the left of Konohamaru.

"Don't forget about me everyone." Ino said within the minds of all the people across the village. She was currently located above the hokage monuments along with several other sensory ninjas that were helping her to communicate information to all the shinobi in Konoha. "I'll connect everyone together to fight as one."

"Shikamaru-san, Chouji-san, Ino-san, thank you." Konohamaru was relieved to see Konoha's infamous Ino-Shika-Chou formation take the frontlines.

"It is time for the power of youth to shine." Lee landed to the opposite side of Shikamaru as did his son. "What do you say Hitmon?"

Lee's son, whose full name was Hit Monster Lee was often called "Hitmon" Lee. He was practically a clone of his father with the same looks and abilities. He was also one of the oldest amongst the children of the Konoha 12 being 21 years of age.

"I'm ready anytime father, no matter who it is I face." Hitmon Lee took a stance immediately. "I shall show you the results of my training and make you proud."

"You've already made me proud." Lee said with tears in his eyes.

"Then I've fulfilled one of my main goals in life." Hitmon replied also with tears in his eyes.

The two, father and son embraced each other as tears started to roll down their eyes like waterfalls. The moment was more confusing than touching however.

"I-I'm glad to see you two but…" Konohamaru sweatdropped as he thought how he never understood what these two were thinking.

As Konohamaru looked around, every shinobi that was present in Konoha were starting to jump to the rooftops of buildings as far as the eyes could see; all of them ready to put their lives on the line to protect their village and comrades.

"Konohamaru-kun, we're here to support you too." Moegi shouted from the ground below.

"We're your team mates after all. Even if you are hokage we will always be team mates." Udon reminded his old friend.

"Lead us all to victory Konohamaru-kun." Ebisu shouted his support along with his students.

"Everyone…thank you." Konohamaru couldn't help but smile seeing all the people of Konoha starting to come together to support him and to protect their beloved village. It made him feel a great sense of joy to know that he was the leader of such an amazing group shinobi. Konoha was known amongst the nations as the strongest hidden village, and it was showing why.

At that very moment, over a dozen of ninjas all dressed in white robes landed at the top of the building right in front of Konohamaru.

"Hyuga, the strongest clan in the hidden leaf village are ready to take centre stage." The leader of the Hyuga clan, Hanabi announced as they took their formation activating their Byakugan all at once.

"Hanabi…" Konohamaru was astonished at the sight of his own wife in front of him looking eye to eye with the adversaries. Hanabi was mostly certainly strong, but her absolute valour surprised even him at this very moment.

"No need to act so surprised Konohamaru." Hanabi replied back firmly. "We may be family but I'm also the leader of the Hyuga clan. But even more so, I'm a ninja of Konoha. Just like everyone who has gathered here, I too will fight to protect this village with all I have. You may be hokage Konohamaru but every single one of us carries the will of fire that defines us as shinobi of the hidden leaf village."

To her words, all the shinobi present started to shouted out in agreement as cheers spread across the entire village. Any doubts that may have been in his mind had now evaporated. Konohamaru believed…no…he KNEW that they could win even against eight tailed beasts at once as long as all of their wills connected them together.

"Then let us unite and overcome all odds." Konohamaru commanded with authority as he pointed towards the incoming disaster. "No matter what, WE WILL SUCCEED!"

In response to his words, shinobi from all directions gave a battle cry as they prepared for combat.

Further away from the crowd of ninjas, Sasuke Uchiha stood on top of a lamp post. He didn't want to get involved with the masses but he certainly was ready to protect Konoha. He had grown to care for the village over the many years he had now lived here.

Beside Sasuke, a very dark crimson haired child looked intently towards where the commotion was on going. His somewhat spiky red hair made him resemble an old friend of Sasuke; the friend who disappeared for good.

"Father look, everyone is so fired up." The boy excitedly pointed out to his father. "YOSSHA-I can't wait to get in on the action."

Perhaps it wasn't just his hair but rather his entire exposition that made his son remind him of his old friend.

"Naruto…this is as far as you come." Sasuke stated calmly. "It is time for you to head back."

"What are you saying father? I want to fight with you too." Naruto was flabbergasted by his father's statement.

"Out of the question." Sasuke cut him off. "You are too young to be taking any part of this. You have simply no idea of how dangerous these tailed beasts can be."

"But I'm an Uchiha," the boy stated proudly, "so I can handle it."

"Naruto, I've said this to you before, as strong as the Uchiha may be, these powers are rooted in the most painful of emotions. I never want you to feel the pain that gives rise to an Uchiha's power. That is why, consider yourself an Uzumaki first and then an Uchiha." Sasuke elaborated to his son since he was part Uchiha and part Uzumaki.

"I understand father but I want to help you. I really do." Naruto didn't really understand what his father was trying to explain to him but his attention was elsewhere.

"No Naruto, there is no chance of you persuading me on this. You will turn back right now unless you want me to force you to, and you know that you don't want to make me angry." Sasuke was being especially harsh to his son given that he did not want to feel the same regret he felt in regards to the person he named his son after.

"But father…"

"No buts. Leave now or I'm telling your mother." Sasuke decided to pull out the nastiest option as drastic situations called for drastic measures.

Naruto recoiled in fear as he imagined his mother's angry face.

"No, anything but that." He pleaded in a sad tone.

"Then leave." Sasuke ordered once again.

"Okay fine." Naruto accepted regaining his hyperactive attitude. "But be sure to whoop some major tailed beast backside."

"You know it." Sasuke gave his son a thumbs up as he saw him off with a smile. Once Naruto was out of his viewing range, he turned towards the tailed beasts once again who were now almost at the entrance of the village. He shut his eyelids tightly and re-opened them wide, activating his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. "I'm ready."

As the entire village prepared to engage, the dark figure appeared right above the tailed beasts just outside Konoha.

"It is time…" The dark figure stated while pointing his right hand towards his target and ordering the tailed beasts. "Flatten Konoha."

* * *

Oh we are just getting started with this. Did you like the new Naruto and Hinata and the other characters? Many more new characters to come. The battle for Konoha is about to begin.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	34. Dark Future: Destruction of Konoha Pt 2

**Dark Future Arc: Destruction of Konoha Part 2**

Man does it feel like its been a while that I've actually written something. But my 3rd year at university is finally over and now I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEE! So I can write again YAY :)

Anyway, a lot of questions arose from the last chapter, which is understandable. Most of them will be answered over the course of this arc while a few might take a bit longer. I would like to clarify though since a few of you were getting a bit confused, Naruto (this current one) is the son of Sasuke and Karin. Karin is an Uzumaki, and that is why this Naruto is also (partially) an Uzumaki. That said, let's get cracking with the action.

* * *

Naruto jumped from building to building until he knew he was a good distance away from his father's eyesight, at which point he landed on top of a rooftop.

"_I'm sorry father, but if you think I'm going to stand by and watch while the village gets destroyed, then you are wrong." Naruto thought. "I will fight for Konoha with all my power as well."_

Finishing his thought, Naruto firmed his resolve and got ready to take action against the invading forces. Just as he turned around and jumped to head back towards the heart of chaos, he had a massive head on collision with another person that was heading in the opposite direction. Naruto was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't see this person coming in his direction.

"AAHH my head!" Naruto rubbed his forehead which bumped very strongly against the other person's forehead. "Watch where you're going geez."

"Ita-ta-ta-ta!" Hinata rubbed her own forehead as well since she was also pre-occupied with her own thoughts and jumped carelessly towards Naruto. "I-I'm sorry."

"Hinata, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise once he recognised who the person in front of him was.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata gasped while jumping up and taking several steps back in shock. In fact she took a few steps too far back which caused her to fall off the edge of the roof. Fortunately for her Naruto jumped in and grabbed her hand, stopping her from taking an untimely tumble to the ground below.

"That was close." Naruto let out a breath of relief after pulling Hinata up. "You need to be more careful Hinata. I know we are team and all, so I'll always look out for you, but you need to take care of yourself as well."

"I-I'm sorry for troubling you always." Hinata looked down in disappointment. "I always hold you back and I'm not strong either. You must hate to be on the same team as me, and to top it off we got put in a two man team."

"What are you talking about Hinata? You're no trouble at all. Plus I can be kind of an idiot myself, so I don't know where I'd be without you looking out for me. Also, you need to stop thinking you are weak. You're always doing your best whenever we train. I'm glad that we are in a special two man team, because we don't need a third person. You are the best teammate I could ask for, who tries their best and always watches my back. Not to mention our crazy sensei, right?"

"That I definitely agree with." Hinata giggled for the first time putting her hand over her mouth, feeling better due to Naruto's refreshing words. Whenever she was around him, she felt like she could keep going ever forward, forget all her worries and overcome all her limitations. "Sensei is very strong and funny, and perhaps a bit eccentric. I wonder where sensei is though at a time like this."

"I've been wondering the same thing. I bet training for some super powerful ultimate jutsu. Haven't seen sensei for a while since when we were told to just train by ourselves a few weeks ago." Naruto thought back to the last time he had an encounter with his teacher. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I tried to help my brothers in fighting those tailed beasts, but they sent me back." Hinata looked down in disappointment. "They said I wasn't strong enough."

"So you are the same I guess."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Hinata looked up in surprise.

"My father did the same to me. He shoo-d me away telling me I wasn't ready for this or something." Naruto replied. "But I'm not going to sit idly by."

"What do you intend to do?" Hinata asked out of curiosity.

"Isn't that obvious?" Naruto looked in the direction towards the entrance of the village. "I'm going to fight. What about you Hinata?"

"I…..I will follow you Naruto-kun wherever you go!" Hinata declared with firm resolve. She would do everything she could for him; the one who continuously supported her through thick and thin.

"Then let's be on our way." The two jumped from rooftop to rooftop heading towards their destination.

At the same time, the tailed beasts stopped momentarily in front of the entrance to Konoha. Every single one of them started forming their own tailed beast bombs.

"Those are…THE TAILED BEAST BOMBS!" One of the shinobi gasped. "And eight of them at once. At this rate it'll be over before it even begins."

"I think not." Konohamaru made several hand seals and jumped down from the lightning rod to the roof where the Hyuga were standing and pushed both of his hands down on the ground. "SUMMONING: EIGHT LAYER RASHOMON!"

The ground shook uncontrollably as eight menacing gates appeared before the entrance of Konoha just in time to intercept the tailed beast bombs fired by the tailed beasts. While 7 of the gates managed to absorb the tailed beast bombs, the one fired by the eight tails broke through and flew straight to where everyone was gathered.

"IT'S COMING IN THIS DIRECTION!" Several people screamed not knowing what they could possibly do in this situation.

"Expand." Konohamaru ordered making his staff grow to over ten times in length and width. He jumped up into the air and swung his staff like a baseball bat hitting the tailed beast ball with all his might and sending it back in the direction it came from. "GAME SET AND HOMERUN!"

The huge ball flew towards the dark figure who did not expect this outcome, but he quickly held his kunai horizontally in front of him, activating a space-time barrier. The tailed beast bomb was teleported far away into the background where it exploded, the reaction of which could be felt all the way in Konoha.

"Glad that didn't explode in our face, but how did he do that?" Kiba breathed a sigh of relief even in confusion. "It's like the thing just disappeared when it got right in front of him."

"That technique…I recognise it." Ebisu contemplated hard on what he saw. "It was one of the fourth hokage's defensive techniques he used to protect Konoha during the nine tails invasion."

"The fourth hokage's technique, but how can he use it?" Chouji gulped down in unrest.

"So the fourth hokage's attacking us." Konohamaru read the atmosphere amongst his fellow shinobi, which seemed to be getting grim by the second and thus he chose his words. "Darn you fourth hokage, why you be hatin' bro?"

The people around him facepalmed at the stupid comment.

"THE FOURTH HOKAGE IS DEAD DUMB DUMB!" Hanabi hit Konohamaru with a quick flick of her fingers sending him straight down to the floor. "AT LEAST ACT SERIOUSLY AT A TIME LIKE THIS!"

"What's wrong with you? I'm only stating a possibility. Or maybe…" Konohamaru looked at Hanabi like a hawk and suddenly started screaming at the others. "HEY GUYS, I FOUND THE CULPRIT…IT'S HANABI; SHE'S THE ONE WHO'S BEEN HELPING THE ENEMY FROM THE INSIDE!"

"Hanabi-chan…" Both Udon and Moegi felt horrible for Hanabi knowing how ridiculous their teammate could be.

"Here we go…" Asuma covered his face with both hands to not witness what was about to unfold.

"Kill…I'LL KILL YOU EVEN IF THE ENEMY DOESN'T!" Hanabi started to stomp on Konohamaru with her right foot, who was still lying on the ground.

"Not the buttocks…oh wait…what's this feeling I'm getting…it's like I've entered the forbidden zone between pain and pleasure…I've been tainted…there's no going back now…right there Hanabi…keep going…I can't hold myself back anymore…IT HURTS SO GOOD!" Konohamaru shouted in joy as he drooled all over the floor with a wide grin across his face.

"Please, just stop." Hiruzen lowered his head in shame at the public display of "affection" between his parents. Unfortunately for him, this was just one of common everyday occurrences that he had to witness.

"So this is our seventh hokage; a man who enjoys getting beat up by his wife." Kiba reluctantly pointed out a fact that he didn't necessarily didn't appreciate. "A pervert."

"Hey man, I may enjoy getting beat up by my wife, but I'm no pervert." Konohamaru replied back seriously in his defence.

"Then what are you?" Kiba asked.

"I'M A SUPER PERVERT!" Konohamaru gave a thumbs up to the rest.

"YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" Hanabi resumed her pummelling, which only served to excite him even more.

But the moment was broken as the dark figure flew straight at the duo and the tailed beasts followed right behind him, breaking through the boundary of Konoha as though it was made of foam.

Seeing the opposition, Konohamaru instantly got up and pushed Hanabi aside, only to be grabbed by the dark figure, who took him straight to the top of the hokage tower at the back end of the village, away from the rest of the shinobi.

"They're on top of the hokage tower." Ino informed the rest in their mind.

"He'll be fine; we have those monstrosities to worry about." Shikamaru pointed out to the rest.

The first to break through was the two tails, who fired hundreds of fireballs in all directions that burned down anything their path. Several shinobi with water affinity quickly took the front to create a water wall that was barely enough to protect the rest from also being incinerated like the many houses and structures surrounding them.

"We have to go on the offense." Shikamaru ordered to the others. "Sitting here defending will lead to disaster."

"I guess it's time to fight fire with fire. AKAMARU!" Kiba called out to his dog. "Man Beast Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf."

Just as the name suggested, both Kiba and Akamaru combined and transformed into one giant two headed wolf which was the same size as the two tailed beast. It was a straight up struggle between two beasts that looked to tear each other apart. At Kiba's directive, the rest of the Inuzuka clan along with himself launched a co-ordinated Fang over Fang that was able to push back the niibi considerably without allowing it to unleash complete havoc.

While the Inuzuka clan were confronting the two tails, the three tails rolled in the shape of a ball and started bulldozing through the streets of Konoha, wrecking everything in its trail. The shinobi could only jump out of its destructive path or risk getting completely crushed by the gigantic creature. Only Chouji, who was able to match the beast's frame using his expansion jutsu stood in the way as he himself initiated his human boulder technique and rolled towards the sanbi for a head on collision. Unfortunately for Chouji, the sanbi's power was far greater and it easily overpowered him sending him flying back through buildings upon buildings until several other Akimichi using their expansion jutsu were able to stop him.

"Not even your human boulder was able to stop it." One of the Akimichi pointed out in concern. "How do we stop the thing from destroying everything at this rate?"

The next moment, gigantic butterfly wings appeared behind Chouji's back, who was a skilled user of the Calorie control. This time, with the immense power gained through the rapid burning of his fat, Chouji was simply able to stop the three tails dead in its track with his bare hands. But Chouji didn't stop there; he lifted the three tails off the ground completely and sent it flying through the air. He then launched himself into the air like a butterfly taking flight and appeared right above the three tails.

"BUTTERFLY BOMB!" With one clean super charged punch in his current form, Chouji sent the three tails crashing into the ground with a gigantic earthquake.

The earthquake set off a chain reaction as the four tails started to rapidly beat its chest and fired off a burst of green flames from its mouth.

"Everyone now, create an earth wall." Hiruzen ordered the rest of his clan members who all combined their expertise in earth style techniques to create an extremely thick earth wall that was able to withstand the brunt of the fire spewed by the four tails. Unfortunately for them, when the four tails realised that the attack had no effect, it charged straight at the wall and shattered it apart with one clean tackle, appearing right in front of the Sarutobi with incredible speed.

Just as the four tails raised both of its hands and brought them down to crush the Sarutobi in front of it, the Hyuga intercepted and launched a series of Kaiten that caused the four tails' hands to bounce off and get pushed backwards.

"Mother!" Asuma sighed in relief to see his mother and the rest of the Hyuga clan fending off the devastating attack.

"You did well Hiruzen, Asuma." Hanabi smiled at her two sons. "Leave the next part up to us. Everyone launch a combined Air Palm Wall."

At her order, every single Hyuga charged and launched a barrage of Air Palm Walls using both hands that was strong enough to cause the four tails to topple over.

While most of the other tailed beasts seemed to be intent in going on a rampage, the five tails was getting ready to end things in one strike. Once it entered the village, it stood up on its hind legs, charging up its two front feet to bring them down in one fell swoop.

"EVERYONE WE MUST STOP THE FIVE TAILS THIS INSTANT!" Shikamaru shouted at the top of his lungs as he, along with the rest of the Nara clan used their shadow binding technique to stop the five tails in its tracks. "It's about to use its stomp, which is known to be able to topple an entire mountain. One hit from its legs and there will be nothing left of Konoha."

Unfortunately, the shadow binding technique of the Nara was not nearly strong enough on its own to hold the five tails, which broke free and brought its feet down to the ground in a bid to end it all. Just at the last second though before the attack could connect, thousands of insects got in the way, sponging the attack and stopping it from reaching its destination. The Aburame under Shino's quick intelligent plan were able to protect Konoha for the time being.

"DOUBLE DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Lee and his son jumped in and kicked the tailed beast right in the face and then proceeded to get on top of its head and grab on to its horns.

The five tails did not appreciate this as it started to violently shake its head to get the two off.

"Calm down Mr. Dolphin." Hitmon Lee requested to the beast under him. "We won't hurt you."

"Son…I don't think this guy is a Dolphin. More like a goat, or even a horse maybe." Lee suggested to his son casually while hanging on to the creature's horn while it desperately tried to get him off.

"You are right father. But this guy sure is energetic."

"Yes, I can feel the flames of youth burning from within him." Lee concurred. "Thus we cannot hold back."

"Of course father." Hitmon Lee replied to his father as the two finally jumped off the five tails' head and landed right in front of it. "Sixth Gate of Joy OPEN!"

"ASAKUJAKU!" Hitmon Lee jumped up into the air and launched powerful flaming punches at the tailed beast, which tanked the hits while barely managing to stay standing. In response, Hitmon Lee continued on throwing punch after punch after punch at an incredibly rapid rate until the number entered into the thousand, at which point he exhausted everything he had and landed back on the ground.

The five tails started to get up once again to the surprise of Hitmon Lee as he was sure no one would be able to survive through that kind of relentless assault.

"A splendid show of vigour." Lee gave his son a wink along with a thumbs up. "Now it is my turn. Seventh Gate of Shock: HIRUDORA!"

Lee instantly entered into his seventh gate and launched one tiger shaped punch even more powerful than the thousand punches thrown by his son. The punch connected and crushed the five tails on to the ground while blowing away everything in the vicinity and shaking the entire village in the aftermath.

The power of the technique could be felt at the top of the hokage tower, which crumbled from the force, almost ready to topple over any second. Konohamaru and the dark figure currently stood at a stalemate on top of the tower after having exchanged blows in straight hand to hand combat. As the dark figure came in for another attack, Konohamaru quickly countered.

"This whole taijutsu isn't getting anywhere. It's time I used my super secret technique." White smoke started to rise from his position. "Sexy Jutsu: Hanabi Hyuga Style."

As the smoke cleared, a Hanabi Hyuga that was in her prime started to emerge. Before anything could be revealed though, the dark figure expanded the darkness around his hand into the shape of a claw and completely crushed Konohamaru's technique along with everything else that was around it. Konohamaru managed to dodge the attack and jumped several steps back to the edge of the tower.

"CHHH, that didn't work out at all. Maybe for the better since Hanabi would have definitely killed me if she found out that I made a technique after her." Konohamaru reconsidered. "What exactly is it that you want from us? Why are you attacking us?"

"This is my revenge, for the betrayal." The dark figure replied curtly, eyeing his opponent carefully.

"Betrayal? What do you mean?" Konohamaru was taken aback by the reply. "What link do you have with this village? Who are you talking about?"

"My link…is with the sixth hokage and his family, one that was forged 15 years ago during that chaotic night."

Konohamaru's expression changed instantly into a very grim one as he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Naruto-niichan and his wife both died protecting their daughter during that incident 15 years ago. They both disappeared, never to be found again, not even their bodies." Konohamaru explained. "But how do you know of that incident when we ourselves know so little? UNLESS…YOU ARE THE ONE!"

"So you are finally starting to realise." The dark figure smirked at the hokage's response. "I know about the event….because I was at the heart of it myself."

* * *

Wow, I don't know why but this chapter felt like it took a lot more effort to write than the previous ones. Maybe because I haven't really written in a while. But I'm certainly getting back in the groove of things.

**MDA:** I didn't just read your review and decided to put current Naruto and Hinata on the same team at the last minute lol. It was all planned from a long time ago.

Anyone wanna take a guess on who their sensei is? That may explain what my plan was from the beginning lol.

Also, the biggest question probably asked was what happened to the original Naruto and Hinata. That my friends is a long story and more will be revealed over time as to what happened to them exactly. But I did start to allude to it towards the end. So try and draw your conclusions for now and eventually all will be revealed.

Finally, the second most asked question was what happened to Yuhi/Menma/Sakumo. For now I guess I'll say that adult Sakumo will be making his entrance next chapter, where I'll introduce his Keke Genkai. Yes, it's one that I've made up myself and is original. It links into something bigger in relation to his team. But for now, he'll show off some of his powers.

Hope you enjoyed and there's a lot more to come. Perhaps a few surprises as this arc continues forward. As always, reviews are near and dear to my heart. I'll see you guys next time.


	35. Dark Future: Destruction of Konoha Pt 3

**Dark Future Arc: Destruction of Konoha Part 3**

This is going to be a rather long chapter. A lot of action and the rest you'll find out...

* * *

"You mean you're the reason for their disappearance." Konohamaru growled at the man who was behind it all.

"Worry not, you shall disappear soon enough." The dark figure jumped up and threw his kunai, which Konohamaru blocked quickly using his staff.

To his surprise, his opponent had teleported with a rasengan at hand to the kunai that collided with the staff. Konohamaru barely managed to pull off his own rasengan in time to counter that of the dark figure as the two separated once again with the hokage sliding across the ground and the dark figure being sent straight up into the air where he came from.

"Shuriken: Shadow Clone Jutsu." Konohamaru wasted no time, throwing a few shuriken and cloning those to send an entire barrage of shuriken right at the enemy. The dark figure simply expanded the darkness around his two hands which were now larger than his own body and blasted all the shuriken with his overinflated hands right back to where they came from.

"Earth Style: Barrier Dome." A circular earth wall rose from the ground and surrounded Konohamaru completely to absorb all the shuriken. Once he released his own technique, the enemy was no longer floating in the air like he previously was. Konohamaru looked in all directions carefully until suddenly a hand broke through the ground and grabbed his leg, pulling him to the floor below into the hokage's office.

Konohamaru barely managed to stand, only to find the dark figure rushing in and only just inches away from him with two rasengan at hand. With no time to get out of the way he had one option.

"Transformation: Monkey Queen Erza!" With one quick hand sign, the staff he was carrying transformed into a large money the size of its summoner and punched the dark figure, sending him flying through the wall to the outside of the tower.

"Erza NOW!" Konohamaru ordered.

"Yes Konohamaru-kun; I'm with you." The female monkey who was the daughter of the third hokage's summoning partner replied, as both master and summoner rushed towards the direction the person was sent flying moments ago.

Konohamaru and Erza jumped through the wall that was broken through and punched the enemy, sending him crashing to the ground as they landed on opposite sides of him in a specific formation.

"FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME BOMB!" Both Konohamaru and Erza shouted in unison and unleashed devastating bursts of flames from both sides, which met right at the middle where their opponent currently was and lighted the entire area up in an explosion of intense flames.

"Did we do it?" Erza asked cautiously while looking at the burning flames.

"Yeah that was a cool combo. I think we got…"

"If you think such a weak attack would be enough then you are sorely mistaken." The dark figure extended two giant hands of darkness from within the flames, blowing them away and grabbing on to Konohamaru and Erza at the same time. He then proceeded to swing his hands to the front and slammed them both into the ground.

"Let me show you what a TRULY powerful technique looks like." The dark assailant made a few shadow clones and started to form one of his signature techniques. "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken."

He hurled the shuriken at the two currently on the ground and expanded it at the same time to several times its normal size so as to make it near impossible for his opponents to simply dodge in time.

"Quick Erza, Adamantine Prison Wall." To his command, the monkey transformed into a staff once again and cloned itself multiple times forming a rectangular framework around Konohamaru with no gaps whatsoever, an improvement upon the 3rd hokage's technique. The Rasenshuriken collided against the defensive structure and exploded, but didn't manage to pass through the absolute prison wall, which even blocked the attack on a microscopic level, staying true to its ability to be able to block any and all attacks.

"That's right; this prison wall simply cannot be broken with sheer offense." Konohamaru said while releasing the prison.

"Rasengan Barrage." The dark figure yelled while teleporting to Konohamaru as soon as he released his barrier, catching him off guard and successfully landing two rasengan at Konohamaru's midsection, sending him flying towards the hokage tower and crashing into the bottom of it. The tower was so shaken up from the ongoing battles that the shock from Konohamaru crashing into it caused the entire tower to collapse on top of him.

"Konohamaru-kun, NO!" Erza shouted in shock of what she just witnessed, which instantly turned into anger as she looked at the cause. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"

"Get lost you stupid monkey." The dark figure expanded the darkness around his hand once again and backhanded Erza, sending her flying through the air before she could even touch him. "I guess that takes care of the weak hokage AND his weak summon."

"Who are you calling weak?" Konohamaru asked from above the dark figure, this time with a giant rasengan at hand.

"You won't fool me." The dark figure diverted his attention from Konohamaru above him and punched the ground extremely hard, causing another Konohamaru to be flushed out from underground. He then proceeded to grab the one who was hidden underground and blasted the clone with his hand, dispelling it. "Nice attempt on trying to get the jump on me with a shadow close diversion, but now that you're within my grasp and this time I'll crush you for good."

When he tried to squash Konohamaru though, the person in his grasp spat a burst of mud towards his face, turning out to be composed of nothing but mud and the earth clone dissipated. Suddenly the rubble of the hokage's tower was blown away as a rasenshuriken was launched towards the dark figure.

"You're still wrong." Konohamaru announced out loud. "Wind Style: Rasenshuriken."

Konohamaru's combined shadow clone and earth clone diversion worked perfectly as his own rasenshuriken connected with his adversary, taking him straight into the air and exploding, forming an enormous blue dome that caused exponential damage. Once the explosion faded, the dark figure simply dropped to the ground motionless.

Konohamaru breathed heavily having exhausted himself quite a bit from using so many powerful techniques just to bring one enemy down. This person most certainly was one of the strongest opponents he had ever fought and everything about him perplexed him, from his appearance, to his ability to use the techniques that would normally be identified with the previous hokage, Naruto Uzumaki. He wondered what connection these two people could have to one another. Thus he started to make his way towards this unknown entity, hoping to unravel some of the mystery. But what he saw next shocked him. The dark figure started to move once again as he scrambled on the floor to stand up. Konohamaru couldn't believe what he was seeing since the rasenshuriken's effect was at a cellular level and anyone who took the brunt of the hit directly shouldn't even be able to move a muscle let alone stand up.

"How can you stand up after that?" Konohamaru asked in awe.

"I…I have the power of darkness by my side. It is my ultimate defense." The mysterious assailant explained as the darkness around him flared uncontrollably while he took his stand once again. "This darkness is what gives me strength."

"So you like darkness huh? Then try this on for size." Konohamaru made several hand seals in frustration. "Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness."

He launched the signature genjutsu used by the first and second hokage that stole the victim's eyesight completely and left him without any light whatsoever.

"Genjutsu success." Konohamaru said indicating the technique was now underway. His enemy was too beaten up by the previous attack to be able to launch a countermeasure against his genjutsu in time and hence was now a victim of it. "Now you'll understand what it means to reside within true darkness, with your eyesight no longer being able to assist you."

In response, the dark figure started to laugh hysterically as though he had heard the funniest joke in his life.

"You are trying to steal the eyesight of a blind man." He continued laughing uncontrollably.

"W-What does it mean?" Konohamaru didn't quite catch on.

"It means exactly what I said. I naturally have no eyesight to begin with and thus I've developed sensing capabilities beyond that imaginable by any normal person. I don't need my eyesight to defeat you." The dark figure, true to his words launched himself at Konohamaru exchanging blow after blow with him making it appear as though he never lost his eyesight to begin with. The two continued on with their seemingly endless skirmish to see who would be the last man standing.

Towards the entrance of Konoha Sasuke saw the six, seven and eight tails head towards his direction. He knew that he was one of the only people in the village who could perhaps take on the strongest of the tailed beasts singlehandedly, but facing three at once would be somewhat problematic even for him. But the answer to his worries arrived out of the blue and stood next to him on top of the lamppost.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked somewhat casually, but inside he was happy to see his student.

"Sorry for being late sensei; I guess you could say I got lost in the path of life." A 23 year old Sakumo replied to Sasuke while scratching the back of his head apologetically. His face was covered by a mask as usual and he wore a Jounin vest just like his father.

"Don't give me that. I honestly didn't appreciate it when your father used to say that when I was young." Sasuke replied in an annoyed tone. "Nonetheless, we have more important matters to tend to."

"Yeah, I can see that." Sakumo acknowledged looking at the tailed beasts that had broken in through the entrance moments ago. "But this is ridiculous. One second I'm about to go to bed and the next thing you know Konoha is being ravaged by tailed beasts. These things are quite the specimen."

"Such is the unpredictable life of a shinobi. Thus you need to be prepared for anything. I thought I taught you that already Sakumo." Sasuke reminded his student about the lessons he had imparted upon him in his younger years. "That said these tailed beasts are ferocious. Your run of the mill attacks won't have any effect. I would advise on going all out from the get go."

"You serious?" Sakumo didn't like the sound of that but heeded Sasuke's warning. "I suppose I'll have to use that technique you taught me. Luckily the weather is overcast and there seems to be quite a bit of raincloud around."

"No, that by itself won't be enough. You'll at least need two times the power to have any kind of effect."

"TWO TIMES?" Sakumo flinched at the proposal. "This is really going to take its toll on me, but I'll manage. Some charging up time is going to be required though."

"Yeah that's fine; I'll take care of the tailed beasts until then. I leave the 7 tails as your primary target since it being able to fly is somewhat of a nuisance to me."

"Roger that." Sakumo acknowledged and raised both of his hands into the air. As though responding to Sakumo's gesture, the thunderclouds overhead started to roar deafeningly as lightning surged through them rapidly.

"It's my turn." Along with Sasuke's words, a gigantic purple behemoth formed around his body that eclipsed even the tailed beasts in terms of size and form. Sasuke's technique towered over everything as the tallest structure in Konoha. "Inferno Style: Flame Control Sword."

A sword of black flames formed which was as big as his previously initiated technique and Sasuke grabbed it preparing to engage the three tailed beasts. The guardian surrounding Sasuke grabbed on to the six tails with its empty hand as though it were a ragdoll, stopping its movements completely. Seeing this, the seven tails started oscillating its wings rapidly as it flew in towards Sasuke to deliver a devastating blow with its scythe like arms, but Sasuke countered with a wide slash of his sword, pushing the seven tails far back. Now it was the eight tails that took the opportunity to move in close and wrap Sasuke with its many tentacles trying to restrict his movements.

"Eight tails, it seems we meet again." Sasuke smirked seeing the tailed beast up close. "But this time I'll show you the true power of my eyes and the black flames."

Just by looking at the tailed beast, towering black flames engulfed the hachibi causing it to loosen its grip on Sasuke and writhe about trying to extinguish the flames, yet those flames were inextinguishable.

"Almost done." Sakumo shouted out to his teacher as lightning now surged uncontrollably across the entire skyline filled with dark clouds. "Just hold them for a bit longer."

Using all these techniques at once and maintaining them took some serious toll on Sasuke's eyes, causing him to close them for only a few seconds. During this time the six tails being held captive by Sasuke secreted very strong acid from its body causing the purple hand surrounding it to degenerate. Sasuke quickly reopened his eyes to withdraw himself before the acid melted everything. Unfortunately the seven tails sensed the incoming attack from Sakumo and took the opening created in Sasuke's defense to fire a blast of fine sharp powder right at Sakumo to dispose of him.

"DARN IT I'm just moments away." Sakumo cursed knowing he had no choice but to move, but that would mean losing control of the lightning needed to perform his jutsu.

The powder blast got ever so close to him until he decided there was no choice but to back away. At the very last second though, Neji intercepted, forming a giant rotating dome that blew away the powder blast from its intended destination.

"H-Hyuga-san. Thank you." Sakumo exclaimed in relief.

"You can thank me later." Neji replied in urgency. "You were about to do something weren't you?"

"He's right Sakumo. Do it NOW!" Sasuke ordered while cutting through many bubbles of acid with his black sword directed towards him by the six tails.

"Yes. Preparation complete." Sakumo fixated his sights on the seven tails while taking a deep breath. "Let this thunderclap…herald your end."

With those words, Sakumo brought down one of his hands, and along with it came down a gargantuan lightning dragon from within the clouds that crashed on to the seven tails sending electricity surging through the ground across the entirety of Konoha. The technique was powerful enough the shake the entire village as though it were hit by an earthquake. But once the effects of the jutsu faded, the seven tails started to get up to fight once again.

"You didn't think that was it right?" Sakumo asked in a serious tone. "There's more from where that came from."

Sakumo now brought down his second hand and with it came another dragon from the sky that crashed on to the seven tails with a deafening roar within a split second.

"Wow. That was amazing." Neji complimented with a look of awe.

"I…managed…somehow." Sakumo breathed in air rapidly to restore respiration within his body and regain energy.

He was sure that this time it would be enough to keep the tailed beast down and out for good. But he was wrong, and to his disbelief, the seven tails started to get up again.

"I…don't believe it. Nothing should be able to withstand two of those." Sakumo only started to realise the power of the tailed beast in front of him that was one of the strongest among its kind.

"Not even that was enough. What could we possibly do now?" Neji thought hard but couldn't find any possible answers.

"I guess I'll have to use my bloodline." Sakumo finally took to his last resort. "It is the only way I have a chance against that monster."

"You have a bloodline? Is it from Kakashi or Yugao?" Neji asked with his interest piqued.

"Well, the bloodline that I have isn't directly passed down from either one of my parents. In fact it is a combination of the abilities possessed by both of them. It is a new style of ninja art that is formed by combining the lightning affinity that I have inherited from my father and the latent magnetic style that I have inherited from my mother." Sakumo explained. "Thus by bringing together electricity and magnetism, a new bloodline is born, that I like to call the Electromagnetic Style. It grants me control over Electromagnetism, one of the four forces of nature. In other words, it allows me to control light."

"Wow, this is the first time I have heard of such a bloodline." Neji commented. "I'm curious as to what it can produce."

"Perfect timing since I was going to use it against the tailed beast; so let me demonstrate." Sakumo made quick hand seals, extended his hands in front of him and outstretched his palms. "Electromagnetic Style: Extinction."

Light started to build up and shine from in front of Sakumo's palms that outshone everything and blinded the seven tails. The tailed beast having lost its eyesight fired another burst of powder from its scales in disarray. This time Sakumo unleashed the light that had built up at his hands and fired it as a wide intense beam that disintegrated the scale powder blast headed in his direction and hit the seven tails in a head on impact. For a brief moment, the entire village was outshone by the flash of light from the aftermath of the collision of Sakumo's attack with the tailed beast. Once the effect of the technique cleared, smoke rose from the trail that the beam of light had taken as well as from the seven tails itself, which now lay motionless on the ground.

The battle with the tailed beasts continued as the clans and team Sasuke combined their strengths to fight the powerful tailed beasts while the individual ninjas teamed up to keep the one tail at bay. Eventually though, the dominance of the tailed beasts became manifest and the ninjas of Konoha were no longer able to hold their own against their enormous power. Little by little, more and more people were no longer able to fight and lives were being put to serious danger. Even the powerful clans of Konoha were falling short in front of the indomitable power of the tailed beasts. They all neared their limits. It was after all a battle between humans and tailed beasts.

Konohamaru breathed heavily having continued his battle for a long duration with the one who had initiated the attack. Both combatants were exhausted beyond words and currently stood in a stalemate. As Konohamaru took a moment to observe the village, his heart started to beat faster seeing how most of Konoha's forces had been wiped out. If things continued on unchecked, people were going to start to die en masse. Just the thought of it sent shivers down his spine, but such thoughts were moments away from becoming reality if things carried on at the current rate.

"_I wanted to avoid using that technique if at all possible, but I must use it to protect the lives of all the people. Even though the village itself will be sacrificed in the process, as long as the villagers are alive, the village can be rebuilt. It is a decision I have to reach as hokage, for these lives are under my protection." _Konohamaru firmed his resolve and prepared himself mentally to put an end to it all.

Konohamaru had prepared for such a moment since the beginning of the battle. He simply took a page out of his opponent's book and used an earth clone from underground to grab on to the leg of his opponent. The short moment it took him to become free of the clone was enough for Konohamaru to initiate his plan.

"Earth Style: Dark Swamp." A large swamp of mud formed underneath the dark figure causing him to start to sink into the swamp. "Earth Clone Assault."

Since Konohamaru knew that his opponent could simply use his kunai to teleport himself away from the swamp, he formed a seemingly endless number of mud clones of himself that continuously took form from the swamp and attacked the dark figure from all directions at every moment, not giving him a chance to even throw his kunai.

This gave the real Konohamaru a chance to prepare his ultimate technique. Several shadow clones focused on his hand to form a rasengan and add to it his fire affinity. Konohamaru had over the years developed the fire style variant of the rasengan that he currently held in his hand. This rasengan was an orange sphere that almost looked like a miniature version of the sun.

"Fire Style: Solar Rasengan." Having completed the technique, Konohamaru wasted no time and rushed in towards his opponent who was still trying to wrestle his way out of the swamp. Konohamaru landed a clean hit to the abdomen of his foe and with an uppercut like motion, Konohamaru sent him along with the solar rasengan high up into the sky.

"Water Style: Regenerating Water Wall." At the same time, one of his clones turned towards the direction of the villagers and spewed an enormous amount of water towards them that formed into circular walls around each person as the shower of water came down upon the people.

"Now EXPAND!" Konohamaru caused the fire style rasengan variant to expand exponentially, until it became large enough to appear like the sun in the morning sky. The technique was so powerful that the light emitted from it made the night sky look as though it was daytime. The energy emitted from the artificial sun caused the temperature in Konoha to increase to such intense levels that objects spontaneously ignited into flames. The village was no longer under habitable conditions.

"W-What's that?" One of the ANBUs inside the water wall, wearing a cat shaped mask asked his partner next to him.

"I'm not surprised you don't know. It is the hokage's strongest technique." The ANBU with a fox mask replied. "On a base level, it is the fire style variant of the fourth hokage's rasengan. But the seventh hokage has taken it to a whole another level, creating an artificial sun like object out of it that gives rise to a new branch of techniques."

"Wow, everything's catching on fire." The cat masked ANBU said in shock while looking around Konoha that was now burning down to the ground.

"That is because hokage-sama can control the temperature of the artificial sun and increase it to unimaginable degrees. It is said that anything caught inside the technique is never found again as the temperature is so high inside the sun that objects are broken down to the atomic level. Even outside the temperature reaches such excessively high levels that objects instantly catch on fire, as is the case right now. That is the reason why hokage-sama used his water style technique on all of us because this technique regenerates continuously as the heat evaporates the water at the top. If not for this we would have all been roasted alive." The other ANBU explained.

"I knew hokage-sama was strong, but I never knew he was this strong." The cat masked ANBU replied.

"Every hokage in the history of Konoha has their own legacy. The seventh hokage in no different. His expertise in being able to use all 5 elemental type jutsus as well as his mastery in ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu has earned him the moniker "Jack of all trades AND master of them all" because no matter what type of combat, the seventh hokage has mastery of them all."

The increase in temperature across Konoha was now being felt by the tailed beasts, causing them thrash about in discomfort.

"Still not enough for the tailed beasts." Konohamaru thought out loud and formed another hand seal. "EXPAND INTO RED GIANT!"

Once again the sun in the sky started to increase rapidly in size. As the sphere inflated, the colour of it turned from a dark orange into a bright red. Along with the change in colour came another sharp increase in temperature, which made the environment so hot that the streets of Konoha now started to melt. The heatwave started to liquefy the surroundings no matter the material of composition.

This temperature was now hot enough to cause the tailed beasts some major damage and so they responded by trying to make their way to Konohamaru to stop him and his technique.

"It's time I put an end to all of you tailed beasts as I did to your master." Konohamaru declared preparing another technique. "WIND STYLE: SOLAR WIND BLAST!"

Bursts of incredibly hot wind came down from the surroundings of the artificial sun that tore through everything in their path and eventually hit the tailed beasts. The winds were strong enough to lift off the tailed beasts and send them crashing into the ground while inflicting severe damage through the heat.

"Now for the finale." Konohamaru could see the end. "LIGHTNING STYLE: SOLAR FLARE!"

This time, sparks of lightning surged across the surface of the giant red sun like object and the next moment, massive streams of lightning tore through the village vaporising anything in their path. There was no escape from the technique and the tailed beasts were all struck down, leaving them motionless on the ground from the relentless assault.

Having finally disposed of every threat to Konoha, the hokage Konohamaru dropped to his knees from utter exhaustion. He had spent up every ounce of energy he could muster and currently had absolutely not enough energy to even move one body part. The artificial sun created by Konohamaru also shrunk and disappeared and the temperature around Konoha decreased dramatically in response until it was safe for the people of Konoha to come out of the water barrier once again. Although the survival against such monumental threats was a matter in itself to be happy about, but everyone's hearts sunk into sadness seeing their entire village being reduced to nothing but a wasteland.

Konohamaru though knew that as long as the people of the village were safe, the village itself could be someday replaced. With those thoughts he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, when he once again felt a sinister presence behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see his worst fears realised. The dark figure was standing right behind him.

"How could you possibly still be here?" Konohamaru simply couldn't believe what he saw.

"That would be because of this." The dark figure held his kunai up with a sinister smile. "But I must give credit where credit is due. You almost had me there. I managed to teleport just at the last second before your artificial sun engulfed me completely, which would have been a sure end. Even then after I teleported, the range and power of the technique was strong enough that I had to exhaust every bit of my defensive capabilities to ensure my survivability. I have to say, you are the only person who has ever pushed me to the point where my defense has been completely broken. If right this moment I were to be attacked, I would be inflicted with direct damage. But unfortunately for you, I still have my attacking capabilities left while you have exhausted both your entire offense and defense."

Konohamaru forced his body to stand up once again to face this evil that threatened everyone. But he had nothing left to give and took a devastating kick from the assailant which sent him crashing into the mountain that previously contained the hokage's monuments.

"This time it'll be over for good." The dark figure flew towards the mountain Konohamaru had crashed into while forming a rasengan in his hand. "ULTIMATE RASENGAN!"

He connected the regular looking rasengan into Konohamaru's chest, which expanded instantly to a size that covered almost half the entire mountain. The brutal assault had left Konohamaru's body completely disfigured and unrecognisable as the seventh hokage was now at the brink between life and death. The dark figure proceeded to grab on to Konohamaru's lifeless body by the neck and flew upwards into the sky towards the middle of the village where everyone was currently located.

"WATCH CLOSELY RESIDENTS OF KONOHA, THE FINAL MOMENTS OF YOUR HOKAGE!" The evil man shouted, forming a very sharp spear of darkness around his right hand while holding Konohamaru with his left.

For a second the villagers only looked in shock at what was transpiring in front of them before the shinobi started to all jump towards the attacker in the blind hope of being able to protect their hokage who had dedicated his life to protecting them. But unfortunately they were all wiped out from their previous battles with the tailed beasts and the dark figure simply waved his right hand in an arc like motion, sending a pulse of darkness through the air that crushed everyone to the ground as they watched helplessly the end of their hokage.

Just as the dark figure readied his spear, someone intercepted them in mid-air.

"I WON'T LET YOU DO IT!" Hanabi had somehow managed to make her way past the enemy's attack and readied her own right now to save Konohamaru.

"So it seems you wish to be the first to go. So be it." The mysterious man threw Konohamaru aside and teleported right above Hanabi before she could even launch her attack. With one swift blow from his left hand, he sent Hanabi crashing into the ground below as he dove in towards her with his spear-like right hand prepared.

The last attack left Hanabi's body completely immobilised. Despite trying to move herself away, her body refused to respond to her will. Before she knew it, the enemy was already right in front of her with his spear readied. At this point Hanabi realised that it was over for her. She could see the spear get ever closer, and thus she stopped her struggling. She did her best until the very end and would die trying to protect the one she loved. That was enough for her. She at least wanted her last moments to be in peace. Thus she closed her eyes expecting the inevitable. Moments passed as Hanabi expected the end to come at any second. Each of those moments now felt like hours, yet nothing happened. Until suddenly it did happen; but not what she expected. Rather than feeling sharp pain at some part of her body, she felt something hot smear her face. Due to the unexpected outcome, Hanabi started to slowly open her eyes once again. As light poured in, she could see the dark spear inches away from her face, stained in blood. The next moment her eyes shot wide open even though her brain didn't want to accept what she saw. Her right hand automatically moved to her face and touched it. Bringing her hand forward, she found it to now being sullied in dark red blood. As she finally reluctantly focused her vision at what was in front, the source of it all became clear.

The spear was stopped from reaching Hanabi by going through Konohamaru's heart. The blood from his heart is what stained Hanabi's face and hands.

* * *

And thus, the end of Konoha's seventh hokage, Sarutobi Konohamaru.

With the hokage out of the picture, what hope is there for the people of Konoha?

Let me know your thoughts.


	36. Dark Future: Destruction of Konoha Pt 4

**Dark Future Arc: Destruction of Konoha Part 4**

Continuing on from last time...

* * *

Retracting the spear from Konohamaru's chest, the dark figure started to float upwards into the sky to regenerate, having completed one of his main objectives.

Konohamaru dropped on to his knees and then on to Hanabi's lap who was still in disbelief of the event that transpired in front of her very eyes. Blood from Konohamaru's chest now flowed freely on to the ground as he lived his final moments.

Everyone looking onwards was shocked to a halt as though time itself had frozen and silence permeated between them, only to be broken by the three children of the hokage rushing to their parents' side.

"FATHER NO!" All three of them yelled, crouching next to their father. Asuma and Hinata started to cry loudly. Even Hiruzen who was known be among the most stoic in the entire village couldn't help but shed tears seeing his parent's life coming to an end right in front of him.

"This cannot be. This cannot be the end. You are among the strongest in the village. You cannot die father. You just cannot die." Hiruzen clutched the ground as hard as he could; forcing his eyes shut so as not to look at his father directly.

"I…didn't think…I'd see you…cry like this…Hiruzen. I don't even remember…the last time…I saw you shed tears. Maybe when you were…just a child." Konohamaru smiled reliving some of his fond memories of when his first child was born. He remembered how ecstatic he was when he saw the face of his son for the first time. It was a moment that he could never forget. "But you mustn't cry Hiruzen…because you have to be strong…for everyone else. You have what it takes…to be a leader…and being a leader means to be able to control oneself for the good of your subordinates."

"But I can't-"

"You can…and you will." Konohamaru insisted strongly that caused him to cough blood from his mouth.

Hiruzen could only nod to respect his father's trust on him and hence remained silent.

"Father…you can't leave us…not like this…not now." Asuma held on to Konohamaru's hand with his all strength as though to keep his father from passing away.

"It's okay Asuma…we all have to leave at some point…but I'm happy that I could go while protecting all of you. It makes me happy." Konohamaru returned the grip of his son to strengthen his point. "When I'm gone…you have to become the glue that holds everyone together. Only you can do that Asuma…kind of like how you used to as a kid…following me around wherever I went."

Asuma was normally one who loved to joke around just like his father, but in this instance even he couldn't bring himself to laugh while seeing his father's current state.

"Yes. I'll do my best for you father." He replied back wiping his tears.

Hinata on the other hand couldn't say a word. Tears fell endlessly from her eyes as she cried the most. She loved her father beyond words and even imagining the concept of not having him around was too painful for her to bear.

"Hinata...don't cry…you're my cute little princess…you know how much daddy dislikes seeing you cry…I don't want the last thing I see to be your crying face." Konohamaru frowned and gritted his teeth from the intense pain that surged through his chest to the rest of his body. His time was almost up.

"No. No. No. No. NO!" Hinata shook her head in denial as even more tears fell from her eyes. "Daddy, I love you. I don't want you to leave. You always believed in me."

"And I always will." Konohamaru reaffirmed. "You're gentle Hinata…and kind…and no matter what anyone says, those are among the best of traits to have. I know that through them…you will be able to become truly strong…because you have the strength of the heart. So give daddy one last smile…the smile that always brightened my own heart."

Her father's words gave her the will to confront the reality in front of her and she obliged, giving her father the brightest of smiles that she reserved only for the special people that she loved.

"That's my girl…oh and one more thing." Konohamaru raised his hand and brought his daughter close to him so that he could whisper into her ears. "I know you like Naruto…and if I know my Narutos correctly, they tend to be quite oblivious when it comes to matters of love…so make sure to spell it out to him."

Hinata blushed strongly and got back to her normal position. She didn't expect her father to know but that was one of his charms. He always seemed to be able to give valuable advice even in his silly ways.

"Why Konohamaru?" Hanabi was finally able to bring herself to speak, yet she still remained in a state of confusion. "You're the hokage. The village needs you. Everyone needs you. Then why would you sacrifice yourself for me?"

"Because no matter how much we have argued or bickered…or however much we fought…I love you…I always have…and I always will." Konohamaru used every last remaining bit of his strength to move his hand and gently caress Hanabi's cheek. "So I have no regrets dying…for the ones I love…and the people I care for."

Hanabi finally felt the overwhelming emotions overtake her and she placed her forehead against his, as tears flowed for the first time from her eyes.

"I love you too Konohamaru. I love you too." She confessed.

"Thank you everyone." Konohamaru's breathing rate slowed down as his body came to a standstill. "I did my best…and I leave the rest to you…because I believe in you all."

With those words, he finally closed his eyes as his pulse stopped completely. And thus, Konoha's seventh hokage, Sarutobi Konohamaru passed away, protecting the very village he was named after.

Having embraced his father's words and will in his heart, Hiruzen stood up and turned towards his enemy, giving him the most menacing glare he had ever conjured.

"Now Asuma, Hinata. STAND!" Hiruzen ordered unflinchingly, to which both of his siblings stood, taking the same posture as their brother, knowing exactly what he felt right now. "We must end what our father started."

"YES!" The two replied forming the same hand seals as their brother. The three yelled in unison, "FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FLAME BOMB!"

Three dragon flame bombs combined into one to form an intense flame that soared through the sky and engulfed dark figure within moments, who was too weak to dodge the wide ranged attack in time.

Whatever defence he had regenerated since Konohamaru's death was completely destroyed by the combined attack of the Sarutobi siblings, leaving him wide open for a frontal assault.

"INFERNO STYLE: YASAKA MAGATAMA!" Sasuke took the opportunity to fire off countless beads towards his opponent that erupted into black flames, completely lighting up the entire sky in a spectacular fireworks show. In the aftermath of it, the dark figure was caught in the black flames, writhing, trying to escape, but there was no escape from those flames, since they were inextinguishable.

"It's over now. There is no point-" Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, he felt something constrict inside of him, taking control of his body against his will. He was forced to move his gaze towards the enemy and turn off the black flames with his eyes. At the same time, the guardian around his body also disappeared against his will. "W-What's going on?"

"One other facet of my power. The ability to control a person." The dark figure replied casually having been relieved of the flames. "The more the darkness in a person's heart, the easier they are for me to control. You Sasuke Uchiha, who has seen true darkness, are a particularly textbook target. Or so I would have thought, but it seems you have changed. You are putting up a lot more resistance than I thought possible, which is weighing down upon me."

To control a person the dark figure would have to focus on that one person at a given time. This left him completely defenceless. But given that almost everyone else was completely wiped out, no one could deliver a powerful blow to stop him. So Sasuke struggled with all his might to try and gain control of his body, but the one controlling him would not simply let him go.

Naruto was thus far watching the chaos ensue when Hinata's father died in front of everyone's eyes and she run over to him in despair. Now his own father was the next victim to the enemy. Reimagining the scene from just earlier of his teammate crying profusely over her family member's death struck a fear in his heart, one that he never felt before. His body shook uncontrollably imagining himself in place of Hinata and Sasuke in place of Konohamaru. The emotional stress induced by that fear started to wear on his eyes like never before, forcing him to clutch them strongly. He didn't know why his eyes were reacting this way, but he started to move to his father despite the discomfort he felt in his eyes.

"I fear I don't have the will to play more games." The dark figure once again formed a sharpened spear on his right hand while keeping the hand seal to control Sasuke active on his left. "It is time you met the same fate as the hokage."

The dark figure started to fly down towards Sasuke in the same manner he had done before, his intent being the same, to perish the life of his target. Sasuke continued to struggle to regain control over his body, but no matter how much he tried his body just wouldn't budge, leaving him completely open to the incoming attack.

"Oh no." Naruto gasped as he now ran towards his father. Fear and despair started to overtake him completely while he desperately rushed to make it to his destination before the enemy did. The pain in his eyes now reached a peak along with his desperation, causing him to close them while he was just about to reach the target.

The dark figure and Naruto converged towards Sasuke until their paths finally intersected. Naruto jumped in front of his father to intercept his opponent. The stress level reached the absolute maximum and the moment of truth had finally come. Naruto opened his eyes wide and with it he activated his Sharingan for the first time in his life, which was a culmination of all the emotions he felt thus far. With his newfound eyes, he could clearly see the hand movement of the enemy and quickly grabbed on to the spear with both hands, bringing his foe to a complete stop.

Sasuke witnessed with awe at his son activating his Sharingan for the first time. Although he always told Naruto to focus more on his Uzumaki heritage because he didn't want him to succumb to the pain and hatred of the Uchiha's past, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of joy seeing his son's Uchiha heritage finally coming into play. But Sasuke was quickly brought back to reality when the evil one started to speak again.

"Ho ho. The first form of the Sharingan. I would say impressive or perhaps even fear my wellbeing since I cannot use any ninjutsu while assuming control of a person, but at the very least I can still use my limbs. And that should be enough to take care of a pest like you."

Finishing his words, the dark figure kicked Naruto sideways sending him flying and crashing into the ground metres away.

"NO, NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted in concern of his son, still unable to move his body freely.

"Hmmm, I said I didn't wish to play games but I think I might make an exception in his case." The dark assailant said with a smile while ordering Sasuke's body through his hand seal to form a Chidori. "Now Uchiha Sasuke, finish him off."

Sasuke's mind was shaken at the order he was just given while his body started to move on its own accord towards Naruto with the full intention to finish him off.

"NARUTO, YOU MUST COUNTER! COUNTER NOW WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! DON'T HOLD BACK!" Sasuke yelled to his son is desolation before it was too late. His hands may have done many horrible things in the past, but this was one act he could not withstand. For his son meant everything to him.

Naruto heeded his father's warning and stood his ground, forming the signature hand seal required to form a shadow clone. The clone popped into existence and together the two formed a blue spiralling sphere on one hand.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto collided his technique with that of Sasuke's Chidori, forming a spectacular show of lightworks.

"How did you learn that?" Sasuke asked in awe.

"Sensei taught me. I wanted to keep it a secret until I finished mastering it, but here it is." Naruto explained with a proud smile.

Seeing his son right now reminded him of his old friend, who he had shared this same moment with multiple times. To think his son named the same as his friend would also confront him in the same manner brought a smile to his face even in this bleak situation. He felt that his son really had taken after his friend, which is the hope he had when giving his son the same name as his comrade.

Unfortunately, this Naruto, his son was nowhere near as strong yet as the Naruto from Sasuke's past. Thus his Chidori started to overtake the Rasengan with brute force. Sasuke tried his best to hold his body back to allow for Naruto to overtake him, but he felt a surge through his body induced by the one controlling him which caused him to break through the Rasengan and end up on the other side of Naruto. Sasuke had barely managed to gain enough control of his body to avoid any of Naruto's vital parts and just ended up shocking him with the lightning. Naruto simply dropped to his knees in the aftermath and was temporarily paralysed.

"CHHH, you managed to escape my control just enough to not deal the finishing blow. I guess your heart is no longer completely filled with darkness." The dark figure cursed in annoyance. "But no matter. This time I'll end it for sure."

Sasuke felt another surge course through his body and this time, a giant behemoth formed around his body, although only in an intermediate form unlike the previous time, and took control of a black sword, completely overshadowing Naruto. Sasuke knew what this was leading to.

"NARUTO, YOU HAVE TO RUN! RUN NOW!" This time he ordered his son to flee knowing that he couldn't counter such a technique in any way.

"But I can't. My body is paralysed." The previous shock from the Chidori left Naruto unable to move.

"Now slay him." The dark figure ordered, raising the black sword high up in the sky and brought it down in one fell swoop to end the struggle.

"NO!" Sasuke cried out but it was too late for him to stop.

At the same time Naruto closed his eyes not knowing what to do.

"GENTLE FIST ART: SIXTY FOUR PLAMS GUARD!" The sword collided against a blue dome and was brought to a temporary halt.

"Hinata?" Naruto looked in awe at his teammate who had just saved his life.

"Naruto-kun…you have to escape NOW!" Hinata exerted everything she had to keep the sword from slicing them. "I can't hold much longer."

"Why Hinata? Why would you risk your life for me like this?" Naruto asked, looking at his teammate's beautiful form.

"Because you want to be hokage Naruto-kun and I believe that someday you can become hokage…or so I would have liked to say. But my reasons are far more selfish than that." Hinata confessed while reaching her limits rapidly.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked once again in a daze.

"I do this because…I love you. I have ever since we became teammates. My father showed me what it means to truly love someone. That is why I'm not afraid to give everything up if it means I can protect the one I love. I just had to let you know." A single tear dropped from Hinata's eyes as her dome started to become unstable, yet she still retained her special smile for him. "NOW Naruto-kun. Please RUN!"

"I won't run because…I feel the same say." Naruto replied back to her as he finally started to gain control of his body.

"What do you mean?" Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I said I loved you too ever since we became teammates." Naruto put it bluntly without a sense of hesitation. "That is why we will face this together."

At that moment Naruto finally managed to stand on his feet, but the sword overcame Hinata's dome at the same time, breaking it completely. As the sword was only inches away from striking them, the two disappeared with a yellow flash. The sword connected with the ground, but there was no one in the vicinity.

Naruto and Hinata were now suspended in mid-air, being carried by their waist. They saw a three-pronged kunai at the ground. Moving their gaze up, they saw the familiar face of their sensei.

"WOOOH, talk about cutting it close. Just in the nick of time." Adult Yuhi, who was in her twenties, smiled back at her students reassuringly, indicating everything would be okay, and set them down.

This older Yuhi's physique was very much the same as her mother's. She even wore her headband across her neck, a reminder of her mother. As for her clothes, she wore a jacket on top of her mesh shirt with matching trousers similar to her mother. But the colour scheme was a combination of orange and black with an Uzumaki spiral across the back of her jacket in memory of her father. She also retained her long orange scarf from her childhood with the trademark Uzumaki spirals embedded at the two ends. From her physical attributes, namely the Byakugan, and her outfit pattern, namely the spirals, one could clearly see her combined Hyuga and Uzumaki heritage.

"WHERE WERE YOU ALL THIS TIME?" Naruto voiced his complains in anger. "The entire village got destroyed while you were away. Even the hokage died."

"No…you mean Konohamaru-niisan is…" Yuhi felt a jolt across her heart from hearing that her big brother figure was no more. Konohamaru was more than just the hokage to her; he was akin to family. The sorrow of his loss was starting to set in when she regained control of her emotions seeing Sasuke starting to move once again. She had to remain strong for the time being. There was too much at stake.

"Yuhi…I can't control myself any longer. You have to stop me. You're the only one who can do it." Sasuke said while raising his black sword once again.

"Yes sensei. I will set things right." Yuhi replied while closing her eyes shut.

"Activate: Byakugan And Sage Mode!" The veins around her temples bulged as she opened her eyes and an orange outline appeared around them at the same time. Her normally white irises became yellow in colour, while her pupils took the form of horizontal black bars, the signature of the toad sage mode.

"KAITEN!" A giant dome rivalling the size of Sasuke's guardian formed around Yuhi as she not only blocked the black sword but also repelled it, forcing Sasuke's body to take a few steps back from the rebound, a result of the years of gruelling training with her grandfather.

"Combination Gentle Fist Art and Sage Art: Air Palm Crush!" She thrust both of her hands at the same time with full force, sending incredible bursts of air towards towards her target, which was enhanced by the natural energy of her sage mode. The impact from her technique was enough to cause Sasuke to topple over even with his defence.

"Now to end it." Yuhi threw her three pronged kunai vertically into the air and disappeared from her current position. "Sage Art: Massive Rasengan Mega Barrage!"

The sky was lighted by giant blue coloured Rasengans formed by hundreds of shadow clones. All these clones brought down the barrage of Rasengans into Sasuke in a spectacular explosion that was just enough to break his defence for good and leave him unconscious.

Yuhi landed on the ground and sighed in relief knowing that her teacher was not majorly injured. She was also relieved that Sasuke wasn't fighting with anywhere near his full power as he seemed to have done his best to hold himself back even under enemy's control. The enemy was not able to fully control him. If not, this would have been a very tough battle between herself and Sasuke. She knew how strong her sensei truly was.

But her moment of peace was broken as the dark figure landed on to the ground just behind her and she turned around to face the perpetrator.

"YO! It's been 15 years but we finally meet." The dark figure said with a huge smile across the darkness that surrounded his lips and hid his true form. "I've been waiting for this moment."

"YOU…it can't be…" Yuhi's eyes widened and her body took several steps back in shock.

"What's the matter? Why are you backing away?" The dark figure asked casually.

"We are family after all." He reminded, imitating a fake tone of care.

* * *

Revelations! Revelations!

And Yuhi's back...fina-friggin-ly. I don't know how many reviews I have gotten ever since this arc began that asked where she was. And now she's here. YAY!

I never quite realised how well liked she was. I mean she is of course my pride and joy but I'm rather sensitive to OCs. I feel like if done wrong they can really detract from the story, which is why I do my best to try and keep things believable. That said it seems a lot of you guys have really come to like Yuhi as a character, which of course makes me happy. Or at least I hope you adore her...you do right? Tell me you do...TELL ME! *Does Yamato stare*

All joking aside, next time we finally reach the climax as this battle comes to an end. So until then, Mata Aimashou Ne.


	37. Dark Future: Destruction of Konoha Pt 5

**Dark Future Arc: Destruction of Konoha Part 5**

This is it. The battle finally comes to a close. I'll see you guys at the end.

* * *

"W-Why are you doing this?" Yuhi asked in exasperation. "To your own village."

"Did you seriously just ask me why I'm doing this? Are you trying to feign innocence?" The dark figure's voice turned from cynical to one that represented anger. "You are the one that stole my eyesight and in return gained your own special eyesight. You took everything away from me and pushed me into this darkness. Now you have the galls to ask me WHY I'M DOING THIS?"

"I-I didn't do it. It wasn't m-me. I didn't mean to…." She tried to defend hesitantly.

"Is that so? Then I DARE YOU to look me in the eye and say that again." He moved in close until his red eyes implanted in the darkness were inches away from Yuhi's.

At that moment Yuhi saw three things, the utterly destroyed village around her, the kunai this person was holding and the dark red eyes that were in front of her. These three elements came together to bring back horrible memories of the night 15 years ago where it all began.

In that memory she remembered that same kunai, her parents, an unnerving amount of blood and utter destruction surrounding her. The memory was so terrifying that Yuhi dropped down to her knees in fear. Her body shook uncontrollably at the mere thought of the event, where she lost her parents, the people she loved the most.

"What's the matter?" The dark figure grabbed Yuhi by the neck and lifted her up, bringing her in front of his face once again. "I TOLD YOU TO SAY IT AGAIN! SAY THAT YOU WEREN'T THE ONE WHO TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! SAY IT TO MY FACE IF YOU DARE!"

At this point she could no longer answer back. She felt terrible for the person standing in front of her and suffered just as much herself for her own actions. They made her feel miserable. And worst of all, she couldn't do anything to prevent what happened by her own hands. She was powerless back then.

"I thought so." The dark figure threw Yuhi aside like a piece of trash. "I was looking forward to making you suffer the same pain that I have suffered. I wanted to teach you the true meaning of loneliness. I wanted you to know despair and hopelessness. But you are a pathetic lowlife who is not even worth my time. So you can perish with the rest of them."

He once again flew up high into the sky. So far up that he could barely be seen.

"This world will know pain, because it is this world that has given birth to me. You only have yourselves to blame." The dark figure extended all his fingers in his two hands and connected each of the fingers from both hands together making a circular formation. "This is my ultimate technique. It is the harbinger of the fall."

Inside his hands a pitch black sphere started to form. Once the small sphere stabilised, he pushed it towards the ground where it started to expand en route.

"This is the end for you all. And thus with this goodbye present, I bid you all farewell." The dark figure simply disappeared as suddenly as he appeared taking the tailed beasts along with him.

The dark sphere left behind by the enemy though moved down from high in the sky while expanding at an alarming rate. Soon the sphere had expanded to the point where it was the size of the whole village and shrouded almost the entire sky. Yuhi, along with everyone watched helplessly as the sphere got closer to the ground and with every passing moment, the gravitational pull from it started to increase. The more it expanded and got closer, the more it pulled everything towards itself. In just a matter of moments, the villagers found themselves being almost forced off the ground by an unknown force towards the black abyss that waited overhead. People tried desperately to try and hold on to not be swept off their feet, but the force became greater by the minute.

Yuhi looked around helplessly at the people desperately trying to save their lives in vain. Tears started to well up in her eyes knowing that she couldn't protect the village that she held so dear; neither could she protect her own family member who was now steeped in darkness. She didn't want any of this, but her worst nightmare was now upon her.

There was no escape. There was no hope. Only fear and despair.

At that moment, while she frantically tried to hold on to the ground, several people were swept off their feet and went flying towards the black sphere above, to their demise.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yuhi along with rest of the people on the ground screamed as they saw their fellow villagers and shinobi being pulled towards their death right in front of their very eyes.

"PARTICLE STYLE: ATOMIC BARRIER!" Another shout reverberated across the barren wasteland that was Konoha as a white transparent rectangular barrier the size of the entire village surrounded the black sphere and boxed it in causing the gravitational pull from it to be negated, which in turn caused the people being pulled towards it to fall back to the ground to be caught by everyone below safely.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" This man shouted which led all the people to dive for cover as the gigantic structure overhead came crashing down to the ground almost squashing Konoha's entire populace, but only to be stopped by this person.

The young man held the entire sphere encapsulated by the barrier above his head with his two hands, which must have weighed thousands of metric tonnes and increasing by the second.

"Menma-kun!" Yuhi gasped in amazement seeing her teammate standing right next to her holding the sphere above him with superhuman strength.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Adult Menma asked in desperation, doing his best to hold the intense weight above his shoulders. "I come back home after three years only to find it to be completely destroyed."

After finally finding about his heritage, Menma spent the past three years in various locations. He spent one year at the Hidden Stone Village with his paternal family, mainly with his very old great grandfather Onoki, who taught him how to use the particle style and various earth style related techniques. He spent another year at the Hidden Mist Village with his mother under whom he learned to proficiently use his two other bloodlines, the lava and vapour styles along with an array of water based techniques. Lastly, Menma spent his final year travelling the various nations, honing his skills in the wide range of techniques he had learned under so many different masters. From all the training, he had come out as an extremely powerful shinobi paralleled by only a few.

"I-I failed to protect Konoha…I failed miserably." Yuhi replied back, once again tears forming in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I really am. I-"

"That's enough." Menma ordered, stopping her mid-sentence. "If you have time to cry and apologise then pick yourself back up this instant. The past cannot be changed, but the future is yet to be determined."

"W-What do you mean?" Yuhi asked in sorrow not knowing yet what she must do.

"No need for that long face Yuhi. Your father and grandfather were both hokages, but even more so they were heroes of Konoha who protected this village and its people with everything they had. The time has finally come for you to live up to your lineage and become the next hero of Konoha." Menma smiled at Yuhi for the first time since he arrived, showing her how much he truly cared. "I need your help to protect everyone Yuhi. I can't do it alone."

Yuhi looked at his gallant face in awe. His smile saved her. It gave her support. It gave her strength. But above all, it gave her hope that perhaps there was still time to set things right.

"What do I need to do?" Yuhi asked wiping away her tears, ready to help her teammate and protect the people of Konoha at all costs.

"That's more like it. I can't hold on to this for much longer. It's becoming heavier and heavier by the second as the sphere is trying to forcefully expand inside the barrier, putting an intense amount of pressure on the barrier. We need to get the people to safety before the barrier breaks and that thing sucks everybody in."

"Should we evacuate people out of the village?" Yuhi asked in a serious tone.

"No, that won't be possible. Unfortunately I won't be able to hold this for that long and even if I was able to, simply evacuating people out of the village won't be enough as the sphere will expand even more and pull everyone in." Menma explained. "The only way to get everyone to safety is by teleporting them all at once."

"Teleporting?" Yuhi questioned in surprise. "You mean-"

"You have to use that technique of yours; the mass teleportation. I assume you've mastered it since the last time I saw you training for it before I left."

"Yes, I was away for the past few weeks finishing off my training on completing that technique. But I haven't had the opportunity to use it on so many people. I don't know for sure what will happen." Yuhi explained somewhat doubtfully. "Plus it will require a lot of hand seals."

"It's the best bet we have right now, so we have to go with it." Menma answered confidently. "So Yuhi, how many seals will be required exactly."

"OVER 900!" Yuhi answered back while crushing her kunai within her palm in the heat of the moment. "About a thousand to be more precise."

"WHAT 900? There's no way that can be right." Menma looked towards Yuhi in disbelief. "Wait…did you just destroy your kunai?"

"Don't worry about that. I have spares." Yuhi pulled out another three pronged kunai from her pouch and showed it to Menma with a smile.

"Oh thank goodness." He sighed in relief. "For a second I thought we were all dead. Anyway, are you sure you really require a thousand seals?"

"Yeah, there's a lot of people here so it'll at least take that much."

"Fine, get to it then."

"But will you be able hold it for that long?" She asked in concern.

"It's not like we have a choice in the matter. It's do or die. So I'll hold on until you are done at all costs, even if every bone in my body were to break." His words showed his absolute resolve.

Yuhi felt the determination behind his words and wasted no more time. She planted the kunai firmly into the ground and started to form hand seals at an incredible rate that was too fast for the normal human eye to pick up.

At the same time, the giant sphere that was trapped inside the transparent barrier was forcefully trying to expand outwards, exerting an enormous amount of pressure on Menma. It became increasingly difficult for him to keep it from crashing down to the ground. Sweat dropped from his forehead as he clenched his teeth with all his strength and tried to hold on for the sake of all the villagers that were counting on him. He could see everyone looking hopelessly overhead where their demise was at arm's length. If Menma were to let go now, it would be over in a flash. But even though the young man exerted himself to his absolute extent, his body had reached its limit. The enormous weight of the black sphere was too much and his hands shattered under the force and the sphere overhead came falling down.

"NO MENMA-KUN!" Yuhi shouted in concern as she literally saw the bones in his forearm shatter with her Byakugan.

"I…am fine." Menma replied back while enduring the excruciating pain his hands that were now lifelessly hanging from his body. Even with the injury, Menma still supported the barrier above him with his shoulders.

But this time, his lower legs were no longer able to support the weight and snapped under the pressure, sending Menma straight down to his knees. The sudden drop of the dark sphere on to his shoulder caused his kneecaps and shoulder blades to fracture next. This led to him and the rest of the villagers to be pushed straight down to the ground face first as the sphere almost squashed them like bugs. Even so, Menma still supported the barrier encapsulating the sphere with his back unyieldingly, living up to his words.

"M-Menma-kun…t-this is t-too much." Yuhi cried out while being forced on to the ground, but she continued forming her hand seals. "I c-can't watch anymore. Your body is…"

"When I said…I would hold it off even if every bone in my body were to break…I meant it." Menma smiled once again even in the most miserable condition he has ever been in. "I never go back on my word, because it is my nindo, my ninja way."

Those words, she had heard them before. Those were the same words of her mother and they originated from her father. Naruto's will still lived on through Menma, the one he passed his title of hyperactive knucklehead on to.

"How much m-more?" He asked in between his heavy breaths.

"Just over halfway." She replied trying her best to make the process go as fast as she humanly could.

"This is…bad." He was now having troubles breathing as the force against his chest from the ground and the force on his back from the barrier simultaneously almost suffocated him. His lungs barely had enough room to even expand.

Eventually once again, the force reached a point where it was too much for his body to handle. One after another the bones in his rib cage started to crack leading to intense pain that made him scream out in agony. Yuhi, in her helplessness could no longer watch the sorry state of her teammate and diverted her gaze away. She only wished she could also block out his screams of distress, which were too much for her to endure.

The people of Konoha looked at the dark sphere just inches above them in despair and clutched on to the ground in misery listening to the one man that endured the pain of the entire village. He may not have been born in Konoha, but he did more for the village, putting his own body on the line that only a handful in the history of the village had ever managed. The will of fire burned brighter within him than anyone could imagine. That will lighted the path in the darkest of situations giving the people of Konoha hope.

"I may be a weak man, but I sure as heck am not going to let a kid die in front of my face while I do absolutely nothing." The old ramen guy, Teuchi declared while pushing his body up against the barrier above him with all his might in the hope that he would be able to share Menma's burden, no matter how small in part. But his determination he had much greater effect.

"That is right. I cannot let a fellow youthful ally shed sweat and tears alone. As long as the flames of youth burn within me, I shall fight on." Lee joined in and pushed his body upwards against the barrier even though he was in severe pain from using his seven gates previously. His son did the same.

"This is troublesome, way too troublesome, but I must protect the generations that have come after me. That is my duty and it is one duty I won't slack from." Shikamaru now joined in on the fray.

"Shikamaru, we're right behind you!" Chouji followed suit of his best friend.

"Ino-Shika-Chou will always fight for Konoha." Even Ino couldn't resist the contagious will of fire any longer as she exerted herself with all she had.

"Akamaru, we can't lose. Let's do this boy." Kiba and his lifelong companion combined their strength to face the overwhelming odds. "Come on Shino, push. We're also part of the Konoha 12."

"You need not say." Shino unleashed every bug he carried to charge alongside him.

"Uzumaki Naruto's Ninja handbook: 2K barrage." Naruto formed a total of 999 shadow clones of himself with every ounce of his energy who all used uppercuts with both of their hands against the barrier.

"This is…for Konohamaru." Hanabi finally regained control of her emotions seeing the ordeal they faced and fought for the village that Konohamaru died protecting.

"This is for father." All three Sarutobi siblings understood the meaning of their father's sacrifice and did their best to not let it be in vain.

Menma could feel it now. His pain was alleviating little by little. The burden he carried was no longer just his own. The people were all fighting alongside him, endured with him. He was no longer just an outsider the sixth hokage, Naruto had brought in. He was a part of Konoha, a precious member of it, like Naruto always wanted him to be. Even though Naruto was no longer amongst the people of Konoha, his vision lived on as did his will.

"Menma, you are my teammate." Sakumo whispered to himself forming a lightning blade in his hand and pushing it up with all his might. "I won't let you suffer alone, because those who abandon their friends are worst than scum."

At that very moment the sphere was lifted suddenly above standing height.

"Flame…Control…Sword." Sasuke's black sword singlehandedly was enough to lift the giant structure a great deal, allowing for everyone to be able to stand once again and push even further. "My students…they're doing their best right now. They're not alone. I will join them."

Everyone in Konoha, ninja or civilian, child or adult, every single person were all forcing the sphere up and refused to cave in. Finally, Menma could no longer feel any weight on his shoulder. But he gained the greatest boost he could ever wish for: to be able to see the people of Konoha united as one. With his new drive, he floated up into the air with his ability to fly and pushed up against his own barrier, holding absolutely nothing back, pushing it even further up than before.

"Yuhi, I just wanted to say one thing." Menma called out to his teammate, garnering her attention. "If we manage to get out of this one in one piece…I wouldn't mind signing that marriage registration form that you always kept trying to sneak into my paperworks."

Those words came as a complete surprise to her and it took her a few seconds to fully understand the true implications behind his statement. The memory of their first encounter when her father had taken her to meet him flashed in front of her eyes. The time when their gazes first met and she fainted for the very first time. Her crush that formed on that very first meeting which eventually developed into true love was finally being reciprocated. She couldn't help but smile as everything came full circle. Tears fell from her eyes from the happiness that she felt at this moment.

"I will hold you to those words Menma-kun, because I'm done." Yuhi announced while pushing both of her hands into the ground on either side of the kunai. "NINJA ART: MASS TELEPORTATION!"

As soon as she finished uttering her chant, a seal spread all across Konoha and every single person disappeared with a yellow flash. The barrier around the dark sphere also disappeared allowing the sphere to expand exponentially until it engulfed the entire village, after which it shrunk instantly and disappeared. In the aftermath, only a dark bottomless pit remained where the hidden leaf village once stood.

The people of Konoha dropped down on to a giant flower field all at once. They looked around to find a cliff before the flower field and a river flowing beside, that eventually led to a waterfall. On the other side of the river was a forest that contained only one destroyed house. This was indeed the location Naruto had brought Hinata and Yuhi many years ago for their family outing. Following that visit, many years later, Naruto had built a house within the woods for their family to visit during vacations. Much happened ever since then and Yuhi left a seal here as this place had special significant to her. She used that seal to teleport everyone here given the desperate situation.

Yuhi and Menma dropped on to the flowerbed close by.

"What is this place?" Menma asked while unable to move his broken and battered body.

"This is a place where my father brought me and my mother a long time ago when I was a child. We even had a house here once." She replied thinking back to the history she had with this place.

"Oh, I'm glad we are safe." Menma sighed in relief.

Yuhi on the other hand took the opportunity to crawl up close to Menma with whatever little strength she could muster. She handed him a piece of paper and pen.

"There you go Menma-kun. Sign it, as you promised." She said in an innocent tone.

"What's this?" Menma asked in an enquiring tone and looked at the paper, which made his eyes widen. "Isn't this a marriage certificate? Why are you carrying this thing around? It's completely filled in and even stamped."

"Indeed. I've already signed it a long time ago. All it needs now is your signature and its official." Yuhi replied happily.

"Have you gone crazy? I can't sign this. My hands are broken anyway."

"That's okay; I'll help you sign it." Yuhi insisted. "Or maybe I can sign it for you."

"NO!" He denied outright.

"B-But you j-just said a m-moment ago that you'd s-sign it." Yuhi's eyes became watery from the prospect. "You l-lied to m-me…"

"NO NO NO! NOT AGAIN! Please don't cry Yuhi. I wasn't lying. I'm just thinking that I'd like you to meet my mother before we do this. I'm sure she'd like to meet you too." He argued his case.

"If it's your about meeting your mother then I've already done that." Yuhi said as a matter of fact. "In fact she approves of our relationship."

"You mean you met my mother?" Menma's face was evident of his surprise. "WHEN?"

"I met her the very first time you met her."

"You mean all those years ago when my mother visited Konoha for a meeting with the hokage?" The prospect was becoming more and more unbelievable for him.

"Yeah, I was following you around under cover, but your mother noticed me and approached me, saying she approved of me."

"You followed me?" Menma's head was spinning right now.

"Of course. I've been following you around for a long time now." Yuhi replied in an innocent tone as though there was nothing wrong with her statement.

"So you were the reason why I always got this weird feeling that I was being watched." Menma was finally able to solve the mystery that bugged him since childhood. "YOU'VE BEEN STALKING ME ALL ALONG!"

"Well, it was my way of showing affection." Yuhi blushed while saying it.

"Yuhi, have I ever told you that you sometimes give off some serious yandere (obsessive) vibes?" Menma gave her a very petrified look.

"I've been told that it's in my genes. My mother apparently also used to follow my father around when she was a child." Yuhi admitted. "But I like to think I'm a step above my mother as I should be. While I do love you a lot, if you were to do anything questionable, then all I can say is that I can imagine this kunai, your head and a boat."

Yuhi had a very dark and evil expression on her face unlike ever before. She really did take her mother's affection to a whole new level.

"_She's gonna kill me. She's definitely gonna kill me someday."_ Menma thought while trying to crawl away from Yuhi as best he could, but his body responded with pain when he tried to exert himself.

"Menma-kun, please don't move. I don't want to see you in pain, so I won't joke around any longer. But this does mean a lot to me." She put the marriage form back inside her jacket pocket. Her final words were imbued with sincerity.

"Of course I was joking too. I will sign it Yuhi, because I meant what I said back then. You mean a lot to me, which is why I don't want to rush it. So wait just a bit longer for me to get better." Menma also replied back with the same level of sincerity as Yuhi.

"I will wait for you as long as you wish." Yuhi made her resolve clear. "For now let's just focus on getting better."

"Actually now that this whole concept has been brought up, where is that idiot Sakumo? Menma looked around in anger to find his other teammate.

"What happened? You look perturbed." Yuhi wanted to know what exactly was going on between her two teammates.

"Sakumo has been sending me nasty postcards while I've been gone calling me a fraidy cat and a quitter for leaving the team." Menma grimaced. "He even sent fake love letters directed to me from 10 different ladies and addressed it to my mother's home where I was staying. Just as he probably planned, my mother received all of them and got incredibly angry. She gave me such an earful that my ears are still ringing to this day. She was going on and on about how I shouldn't become a womaniser and I should find one girl. I'M NOT LIKE THAT!"

"I'll make him pay." Yuhi's dark expression returned as she thought of the many ways she could punish her masked teammate for his deviations.

"SAKUMO, COME AT ME BRAH! COME AT ME!" Menma shouted so that his teammate could hear, but the shouting caused the pain in his chest to intensify. "Ok maybe don't come at me right now. But definitely come at me later. I'll make you pay for sure."

"Fine, you two can make me pay once you have gotten better." Sakumo appeared in front of the two and held them by the shoulders to pull them both up.

"You all did well." Sasuke complimented while also helping the two to stand. "Exactly what I'd expect from my students."

The other villagers followed suit to help the two that saved them all.

"Although Konoha is no longer, at least we the residents are still here." Menma pointed out to everyone.

"And as long as we are still here, we can build a new Konoha." Yuhi added.

The rest of the villagers shouted their agreement to their statements.

Indeed Konoha would once again be reconstructed at the exact position they now stood. The darkness that shrouded the future would be cleared to form a bright future through the hard work and determination of the people of Konoha. That was the meaning of the will of fire they all held within.

* * *

Wow. That was a lot of flashbacks to previous chapters of the fic. The most important one is the fact the place Yuhi teleported everyone to is the same place featured in chapter 16 "The Waterfall". There will be one more chapter in this arc that'll be 4 years from now to see how things have developed somewhat ever since this battle. It'll be mostly lighthearted, although I think the ending will be interesting for you all. We shall see.

Other than that it was cool for me to take Menma and Yuhi's relationship to the next level. In light of these events it'll be fun to develop their childhood relationship once again when the opportunity arises. But I got to say, if you thought Yuhi was all cute and adorable, just wait until she goes full yandere and we get a school days ending. Okay no. But I sincerely hope for the first time that no one got the School Days reference in this chapter lol. If you did...then my condolences are with you. You and I will suffer forever with that horrendous anime ending for the rest of our lives. That said, I hope everyone DID get the other silly reference I made to a line from another popular anime. HINT HINT: Power level.

Also yes I decided to show the ramen guy some love. I think he deserves a lot more credit than he gets. I mean think about it, if he didn't serve ramen, Naruto would literally starve and die, because all he ever eats is ramen. So in essence, without the ramen guy there would be no Naruto. So pay that ramen guy some respect for making all that ramen 24/7.

Okay now let's answer some of your awesome reviews:

**Nicole The Dragon Rider:** I read your review last time and for some weird reason I imagined you and me were engaged in an epic battle through the review. This is what I imagined you say:

"Activate: Rage Mode!" Anger was now clearly visible.

"Rage Art: ALL CAPS BARRAGE!"

With that all powerful technique, I got owned lol.

I liked all of your questions and they will all be answered eventually. So don't kill me before I can finish answering them. Pretty Please *Puts child Yuhi in front for protection*.

**Redsox31**: I appreciate you liked the part of last chapter where Hinata confessed to Naruto, but I have to inform you that I'm not Batman. Actually…wait I take that back:

Me: "I'm Batman." Headbutts you in the face and looks over to homeless guy. "Nice coat."

Oh man, Batman Begins.

**Chewie Cookies: **You started every review in this entire arc with the word "Damn". Was that intentional?

I'm sorry if I made you feel sad, but look at the bright side of things. You got a happy ending. Oh wait maybe this wasn't that much of a happy ending since Konoha is gone. At least most people are alive though :)

**MrAzazael: ** Thanks man. You are the first person to point out that Konohamaru and Sakumo's techniques were inspired by Physics. In fact, there is a Physics related reason why Sakumo has EM as his bloodline in relation to his teammates' bloodlines. But we will get to that someday...probably. Btw, still think Menma is the dark figure? Roll dem conspiracy theories lol.

**YamiChaos27: **I gotta give it to you man. You are perhaps one of the most observant of readers I've had so far. You pick up things that most people don't notice. It really is cool and surprising reading your reviews where you connect the dots together. I suppose I should say sorry since you (as well as a lot of others) were expecting to finally know who the dark figure is. That said, I intend to have something very interesting in regards to that next chapter which I'm developing currently. So keep in mind everything that you have unraveled so far. You may just need it...guhehehehe. I love mysteries.


	38. Bright Future: Reconstruction of Konoha

**Bright Future: Reconstruction of Konoha**

Alright, we have come a long way since the beginning of this future arc, and this is the final chapter of this arc. It essentially takes place 4 years following the events that happened in the last chapter. As an interesting tidbit, if you remember back to chapter 25 (Return of the Legendary Sannin), at the end of that chapter there was a little segment where adult Yuhi and Menma had a battle. Essentially that battle happens between the last chapter and this one. In 25 Menma refers to the fact that Yuhi and himself became heroes of Konoha. He was referring to how they saved Konoha in the last chapter and became its heroes.

Anyway, that said, I'll let you guys read on.

* * *

4 years had passed since the brutal attack on Konoha that wiped the village completely off the map. The remains of the original Konoha were non-existent. It was nothing but a bottomless pit, one people didn't dare venture towards.

But a new Konoha was built at a faraway location from the original's destination. It was the place where everyone was teleported to, just in time to avoid their untimely demise. Over the 4 years since then, people worked long and hard to reconstruct a new Konoha from the ground up to create once again a vibrant village that captured the essence of the original.

Right now, it was night time and the sun had set just a little while ago. Konoha's business district consisting of all the shops and stores was at full blast and was bustling with life. The flower field that once was had been restructured into the business district and as such there was an abundance of flowers all around Konoha's central hub, courtesy of the Yamanaka's handiwork. Even though it was a centre for business, plant life was an integral part of the new design, giving the area a beautiful harmony between what was manmade and natural.

In front of the business district was the new hokage's tower situated below a large cliff. The heightened cliff was once again used as an avenue to position the hokage's monuments, which now had a new entry. As such, the 8 hokages of Konoha were all present in their monumental form.

A river flowed just alongside the cliff that formed a divide between the two parts of Konoha. On one side there was the business district while on the other side of the river was the residential area, which once used to be a forest. Just as the namesake would suggest, the new Konoha was built in a destination which was covered, or hidden in leaves from the dense canopies. Although a portion of the forest was used to reconstruct the houses for the new village, the residential area of Konoha was filled with various forms of trees, big and small that were left over from how the area initially was. Thus, the village truly did live up to its name of literally being hidden in the leaves.

Amongst the average houses, there were a few compounds that stood out of the bunch. These were the living complexes for the various clans of Konoha, who lived much more unified lives as would suggest from their status as clans. One such complex towards the edge of the village was that of the Uchiha clan. It was one of the smaller compounds when compared to the other clan residences, definitely a lot smaller than the previous Uchiha compound, but sizeable nonetheless when compared to the average accommodation. Although the Uchiha clan only really consisted of Sasuke and his family, they were still granted a large clan house for just a handful of people. Perhaps this was due to Sasuke's close connection with the new hokage, or most likely it was due to the fact that the hokage recognised the fundamental role the Uchiha played in giving the village its original identity.

Sasuke Uchiha sat quietly in the middle of the living room reading a newspaper while having firmly having tugged his feet under the kotatsu. There was this exceptional kind of bliss to have the lower half of his body being warm and comfortable under the kotatsu in the chilly weather of the night.

The silence was broken as the door to the room slid open and a black haired Hyuga walked in gracefully. She was now 18 years of age.

"Sorry for the intrusion father." Hinata apologised firmly.

"Not at all Hinata. I've already told you so many times that you don't have to be reserved. You are part of the family now." Sasuke gave her a gentle smile. "Come, take a seat."

Hinata obliged and sat opposite to Sasuke on the kotatsu.

"So, how was the meeting?" Sasuke asked striking up a conversation with the shy girl.

"The meeting went rather well. Mother has started looking for the new leader of the Hyuga clan at the heed of the elders. She wanted Yuhi-neesama to become the next clan leader given that she is the eldest and the strongest amongst the Hyuga. But given her current situation, Yuhi-neesama has had no choice but to reject the offer." Hinata explained.

"Yeah, I can definitely imagine that." Sasuke agreed knowing Yuhi all too well. "So I imagine Neji's son is the next in line."

"He is a possible candidate for the next clan leader, but a decision won't be made anytime soon from the looks of it. Mother intends to remain the leader for as long as her age allows, or so she says. She can be a bit stubborn." Hinata liked the never give up attitude of her mother.

"That sounds like her. I do hope that you get considered for the next clan leader's position as well." Sasuke insisted.

"I-I don't know about that. I may not have what it takes to lead the Hyuga clan even if I may be the only one amongst my siblings with the Byakugan." Hinata replied in a slightly sad tone.

"You should have more confidence upon yourself because you've certainly grown strong. It's actually quite ironic because the person you are named after, your aunt, was also a very timid woman, but she managed to become the leader of the Hyuga clan by overcoming her own weaknesses."

"I-I've been told that by my mother. My aunt must have been quite an amazing person. I wished I could have met her." Hinata was certainly intrigued by all the stories she heard about her aunt.

"I suppose the more ironic part is that just like your aunt married the sixth hokage at the time, who was named Uzumaki Naruto, you ended up marrying my son, who is also named Naruto after the sixth hokage, my best friend." Sasuke smiled thinking about the string of events that lead to this incredible outcome.

Hinata couldn't help but blush slightly at Sasuke's remark.

At the same time, a red headed woman came out of the kitchen next door carrying two cups of green tea at hand.

"Hinata, welcome back." Karin greeted while giving one of the cups she was holding to Sasuke and held the other towards Hinata. "Want some tea?"

"Yes that would be nice…b-but I'll go make some. You have a seat and have that cup." Hinata insisted.

"Don't worry about it; I've already made another cup of tea for myself since I sensed you come in." Karin happily placed the mug in front of Hinata to go to the kitchen and bring her own.

The three sat down at the kotatsu enjoying their lukewarm tea together.

"So Hinata, I hope everything is going well with Naruto." Karin spoke while taking a sip of her tea. "The two of you only recently got married and married life can be quite the change at first."

"Oh no, Naruto-kun is very mindful and caring when it comes to it. But he was always like that ever since we became teammates five years ago." Hinata thought back to the time when she and Naruto first got together as kids. "His proposal was a very joyous moment for me."

"I guess Naruto managed to outdo his father in that regard." Karin knocked Sasuke lightly in the head with the back of her hand. "This guy took ages to propose to me."

"Karin, if I remember correctly, you were the one who proposed to me." Sasuke decided to play along with her.

"Y-You were giving m-me the signals back then, s-so it was all the same." Karin's attempt at getting the better of Sasuke backfired on her, like it always did.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the silly antics between her in-laws. They were an interesting combination to say the least.

"Karin does have a point though." Sasuke said semi-seriously. "If Naruto ever does anything out of place, just let his mother know. She'll get it fixed in no time."

"Leave it to me." Karin held up her fist to show her authority.

"I…don't think that will be necessary." Hinata replied back holding back her urge to laugh.

"Did anyone just mention me?" Naruto questioned while walking in.

"You're quite late today." Sasuke said while looking at the clock. "What took you so long?"

"Being the hokage's assistant is a much harder task than I thought. Sometimes I wonder if I am the hokage's assistant or the hokage's toy." Naruto sighed in melancholy.

"Want some tea?" Karin offered.

"Actually, I'm really sorry mom but I wanted to go somewhere with Hinata."

"Fine. I guess it can't be helped. The two of you are newlyweds after all. I'm sure you have places you want to be by yourselves." Karin took another sip of her tea casually. "Now go along you two. Just try not to be too late."

"Have fun." Sasuke added.

"Sure will. Let's go Hinata." Naruto instructed as Hinata got up and the two exited the room.

"Where did you want to go Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked the man walking next to her.

"You know that waterfall outside the village? I thought we could visit there. It's quite beautiful at night time."

"Is that so? I can't wait." She couldn't help but get excited at the prospect of going out with Naruto.

The two exited the clan house and walked through the quiet streets of Konoha. The residential area was at most times relatively quiet given that most people were gathered at the business district at most instances. It wasn't very long before the two made it to the exit of the village. But just as they were about to exit the village, both of them were lifted up by the waist out of the blue by an unknown newcomer.

"Where do you think you two lovebirds are going at this time of the night?" Yuhi asked while holding on to her students tightly.

"W-Why are you here?" Naruto questioned while struggling to get out of her grasp, but to no avail.

"I'm here because the three of us are leaving on a mission. Right now." Yuhi advised.

"You can't just do that all of a sudden." Naruto complained while resuming his pointless struggle.

"I can because it is the hokage's order." Yuhi got ready to take her leave.

"But that's unfair because you are the…" Before Naruto could finish his sentence, the three disappeared with a yellow flash.

The next moment Menma came running to the entrance while holding an overcoat with the word "Eighth" embedded on the back.

"Where is she?" He asked the guards sitting next to the exit.

"I'm afraid she's already left." One of them replied in a sad tone seeing Menma's desperation. This was a recurring sight.

"Not again." Menma panted in severe annoyance. "GET BACK HERE, YUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIII!"

His scream could almost be heard by the entire village, but it wouldn't be received by the one person it was directed towards.

* * *

Elsewhere, at the same time…

Metallic skyscrapers almost touched the sky in whatever direction one looked. Although rain for most would be an occasional affair, the people living in this village expected it to rain at most times. For them not having rain was an unusual prospect. Indeed, the hidden rain village was a small village that often times slipped under the radar of many of the larger villages serving the great nations. Thus it was an easy location for ones with devious ways to execute their plans. At this very moment, an old man stood at the edge of the tallest tower in the entire village; the tower of the leader. This man had taken control of the hidden rain village after its previous leader, Konan passed away. While he ruled Amegakure for quite a long time, he was currently nothing but a puppet.

"You have served me well and so has this village." The dark figure appeared behind this man who simply stood at the open precipice of the top floor of the tower, looking onwards without a sign of emotion or hesitation.

"While everyone is under the impression that their long-time leader has been guiding them in a path of prosperity, little did they know that you have been nothing but my puppet for all these years. By taking control of you I have been able to use Amegakure's resources and manpower to successfully undertake my experiments without any of the greater nations taking proper notice. But now that my efforts are finally coming to fruition, I don't have any need for what this village has to offer any longer. Hence I'll be taking my leave, and you old man can have your leadership back." The malevolent man explained. "So, to wake you up from the little daze I put you in for all this time, how about you take a little tumble?"

The dark figure pushed the old man from the rooftop sending him soaring down into a stream of water below. The huge splash caused gained the attention of all the people standing around, who instantly jumped in realising it was their leader that had just fallen in.

"My work here is done. Let's take our leave." The dark figure affirmed with a devious smile and brought out his kunai. As always he disappeared in a moment's notice.

The next instant he landed in front of a small mountain located amongst a mountainous region that was barely ventured by any human being due to the incredibly rough terrain in this particular area. But this man simply walked up to a small entrance towards the bottom of one of the mountains. It was a straight path inside, one that was very well known to him. Thus the darkness around him lifted, taking a dark ethereal form and leaving in its wake a blond man as usual.

As the blond walked, the shapeless dark ethereal form floated alongside him and the two started a conversation.

"Did you know that one of the previous leaders of Amegakure was a man named Nagato Uzumaki?" The dark form, Nemesis, asked the blond. "I feel it's quite ironic given our circumstances."

"Of course I know of him. How could I not know Pain? The presumed leader of Akatsuki, a group once feared amongst the nations for harvesting the power of the tailed beasts. This is all textbook history now." The blond scoffed at the information he recalled. "But even with so many overpowered shinobi under his control, Pain was still weak. I already have 8 of the nine tailed beasts within my grasp and soon I shall also have the same eyes as him."

"You do know realise that Yuhi Uzumaki survived right?" Nemesis asked, but it was more of a known statement.

"Of course. When I left her with the other members of Konoha, I did so knowing she would survive, because after all she has the same kunai as me and the ability to teleport. That said I didn't quite expect her to save the rest of Konoha."

"That is why I keep telling you not to underestimate her. It was a rather reckless move on your part to confront her then." Nemesis argued. "If she used the true power of her eyes then we could have been in trouble."

"Don't you think you are overestimating her just a bit?" The blond was not impressed. "Do you really think she has harnessed the power she gained from sealing my eyes? She was incredibly weak. So much so that I could have perhaps just taken her eyes right then and there without having to go through all this trouble."

"Do not make this mistake ever again. You are not yet prepared to face her. That was only just a lucky break." Nemesis warned. "Now let me briefly reiterate so that you don't stray off the path."

"Oh please, spare me. I already know the plan." The blond looked at the dark form in irritation, but realised there was no way out of this. "Fine…go over it…like the hundredth time."

"The seal she has placed upon your eyes is quite the peculiar and deadly one. It makes it so that you cannot simply replace your eyes with just anyone's eyes. The only way for you to regain your eyesight and the powers your eyes could have granted you, is by taking the eyes of your sealer. Thus, you must take away the eyes of Yuhi Uzumaki for yourself." The dark form explained clearly. "But taking her eyes at present may prove challenging and I do not want to take any chances. Thus, once all preparations are complete, we shall travel back in time before she has fully activated the power of her eyes and salvage them, without much opposition. Is that clear?"

"Yes I know, and once I obtain the eyes of her younger self, I can return and show her the true meaning of power." The blond replied back while clutching his fists. "That said, so far you've only been talking about getting those eyes back, which is of course an unquestionably integral part of the plan, but what about this experiment we have been conducting for so many years? This has to be on the same level in terms of importance."

"I would much rather not talk about what we have been doing right now. You never know, even the walls may have ears, and this must remain covert." Nemesis replied in a sinister tone.

The two reached the depths of the pitch black cave, to a dead end. Nothing could be seen at this point, but the blond extended his hand and touched the wall in front of him. A seal was unlocked and the wall collapsed into the ground revealing a brightly lit hallway. As the two entered into their secret base, the wall behind them reformed, shutting the entrance once again.

This new place was a stark contrast to the pitch black cave behind them. The hallway was futuristic with tiled surfaces and bright blue light illuminating the entire walkway. The path led straight forward once again but had many automatically opening doors to the left and right. From the equipment that was placed in each of those rooms, they would all appear to be laboratories. In fact, this entire base was a laboratory to conduct experiments.

"I agree with you." The blond replied to the dark form beside him in response to its statement from before they entered their base. "The work we have been performing here must not be discovered. Human experiments after all are an explicit taboo."

"Indeed, it seems the time has finally come to see the results of the labour." Nemesis said once they reached the end of the hallway that led to one final door. At this point, the dark form once again combined with the blond giving rise to the dark figure. The door opened and he walked in.

This was only an average medium sized room and mostly empty. On the left side was a screen where the results of tests could be viewed. On the opposite side were the most important structures of the entire base. Two large transparent cylindrical chambers stood connected from the ground to the ceiling. The chambers were completely filled with a dense gas that made it difficult to see what these containers housed. But one could notice upon closer inspection, the outline of two human bodies within the gaseous chamber.

The dark figure went over to the screen opposite to the two chambers and started to make some final checks to make sure everything was working accordingly.

"Perfect. It seems one half of the experiment has reached completion successfully." He affirmed in joy. "Now, it's time to see the results of this lofty endeavour."

With one press of a button, the gas from the right chamber was suctioned downwards revealing the person who was standing within.

The woman inside was in her fifties, wore a long purple gown that went down to her feet and covered her hands up to her wrists. Her midnight blue hair flowed down almost all the way to her knees and her eyes were closed as though she was in a deep slumber. The door to the transparent chamber slid open and she stepped down to the ground almost mechanically, not showing any signs of life.

"This is it! I have preserved this body for almost 20 years and the results of all the experimentation are finally going to be revealed." The dark figure was ecstatic beyond words. "Now then, open those eyes, Hinata Hyuga."

Hinata Hyuga, the once Hyuga clan leader, Naruto's wife and Yuhi's mother opened her eyes in response to the dark figure. But her eyes were no longer the usual pure white Byakugan. Instead, they were now the eyes with the concentric circles…the Rinnegan.

"Yes, YES!" The dark figure shouted in joy while moving over to Hinata. "I have worked tirelessly to combine your DNA with that of that of Uzumaki Naruto's. By doing so I have brought together the two original bloodlines that give rise to the strongest and rarest of all three eye techniques, the Rinnegan. It took many, many years of excruciating hard work and waiting, but the outcome is truly astounding."

Hinata simply stood in place like a puppet while the dark figure walked up to her and embraced her in a hug.

"This time you won't abandon me right? I know you won't abandon me." He said in a quiet and melancholic tone. "You will love me too right? I know you will. You have to love me. That's only right since we are family after all."

The moment was broken as the dark figure felt a sudden disturbance.

"I sense a group of ninjas approaching; it seems our base has been discovered. This is certainly annoying." He expressed his thoughts in agitation. "But I guess it was bound to happen at some point given I've been working here for so many years. And my experiments are more or less complete. The other subject just needs some more time to calibrate at this point."

He moved over next to the second unopened chamber and summoned a rectangular metallic container right in front of the chamber, large enough to hold a human body.

"That body is not yet ready to move on its own accord at this point." The dark figure stated seriously while looking at the outline of the person being held inside the second chamber. "We need to quickly transfer it into this sealed container immediately."

He opened the doors of both the metallic container and the gas chamber at the same time and Hinata quickly raised her hand to move the body as well as the thick gas surrounding it into the metallic container. As soon as the transfer was complete, the dark figure shut the door to the metallic container completely and with a poof of smoke it disappeared.

"That should be good for the time being. Now we need to get out of here immediately."

The dark figure and Hinata ran through an emergency exit that made led to the top of the mountain in which the base of located. Once they reached the top, the two jumped into the air and floated high up into the sky, close to the clouds with the dark figure's ability to fly.

"We cannot have any evidence left over in that base. As such, I think it would be in the best of our interest to leave nothing behind. Actually I think this is the perfect opportunity to test out your new powers." He smiled while thinking up a great plan. "Now then, wipe out the entire mountain! ALMIGHTY PUSH!"

At his order Hinata looked towards the mountain and extended both of her palms towards it. The next moment, an incredible invisible force hit the mountain at full blast blowing it up into little pieces as if it were made of cotton. The explosion sent shockwaves through the ground causing an earthquake in the vicinity and filled the surrounding atmosphere up in dust and rubble. The party of ninjas that was making their way to the base were shocked to a halt and dived to cover at the utter destruction that ensued in front of their very eyes. Needless to say, the base that they were heading towards had now been completely obliterated.

"WOW! Simply amazing!" The dark figure looked towards Hinata in awe. "This power is on a level all on its own, and we haven't even fully unleashed it yet. I guess the Uzumaki DNA and the extensive engineering I performed have increased your reserves manifold."

Hinata's body automatically started to regenerate rapidly having performed such a large scale attack. As such she floated in the air now with her eyes closed.

"I cannot WAIT to get my hands on those eyes for myself as well when I travel back to the past." The dark figure was shaking in excitement having seen first-hand what the Rinnegan was capable of. "Next time Yuhi Uzumaki, I hope you are prepared to face your own mother. Not to mention, my final trump card, "HIM", is yet to be unleashed."

"Let us be on our way. Time requires manipulation." The dark figure touched Hinata with one hand while holding the kunai in the other and the two disappeared with a flash into the darkness of the night.

* * *

We are ending this arc with a bang, literally. I suppose I answered part of the question of where the original Hinata was at the end.

Now you know what the dark figure did, why he travelled back in time and what his relationships are. So the final question is, who is the dark figure? I know a LOT of you have been trying to find that out but I myself haven't directly asked you this question directly so far. But now I think I have given you enough information to be able to tell exactly who he is, especially if you know the person that was in the second chamber ;) That is why I pose the question, who is the dark figure? And for those of you who were a bit more keen, what is his name?

Since the whole mystery (if you can call it that) around the dark figure's identity turned out to be a significant part of the fic, I am going to do a little contest before I officially reveal his identity at Yuhi's final memory. At that chapter when I reveal his identity, I will list all the people who managed to identify him. I will also do another special mention for those who actually manage to state his name (Unfortunately, I can't mention guests without names). You have from now until when the final memory begins to figure these out. Consider it my little nod to all of you who have been invested in trying to figure out his identity.

On a side note, if you are a bit confused on how Hinata has the Rinnegan, I explained the concept in more detail in chapter 20.

With all that being said, let me know what you thought of this chapter and about this entire arc in general.


	39. Birds of The Same Feather

**Birds of the Same Feather**

Yo! Before we begin I wanted to let you know that we are not going back to memories just yet. This chapter (and the next one) will be a short little story about how future Yuhi, Naruto and Hinata became a team. I've had this thought up for quite a while and I decided now would be a good time to write it since we just finished the future arc itself. This obviously happens a while before all of that stuff that took place in the last few chapters, since Naruto, Hinata and Yuhi are already a team there.

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

A tale of how Naruto and Hinata became part of the same team...

Sarutobi Hinata was currently sitting in one corner of the classroom and twiddled away with her index fingers. While the class was very noisy and the sensei was busy investigating a wad of paper stuck to a clipboard, her attention was focused on the boy who was sitting across the classroom, looking outside callously through the window. Uchiha Naruto was an object of affection to her for a lack of a better term. She was hoping and praying that she would be with him by the end of today's session.

Indeed today was the last day of academy for all the students present in this class. They had all passed their academy tests and were now going to be placed into squads and given a Jounin instructor. Their academy teacher appeared to be a middle-aged female with a relaxed outlook. Her name was Asuna Sarutobi, the daughter of Asuma. As she made some final verification before making the announcements, the students in the class were making a huge ruckus out of excitement.

"You ready to know who we are with Kuromaru?" An Inuzuka kid asked his small pet dog sitting on top of his head.

"Woof! Woof!" Kuromaru replied.

"I can't wait to find out either." He replied as though he understood what the dog said.

"I thought I told you like fifty times that I'll be with Naruto, forehead." A blonde girl was currently engaged in verbal combat with the person sitting next to her.

"Stop stealing my lines Ino-pig. I'll be the one to be on his team." The pink haired girl retaliated, ready to snap.

"Stop calling me Ino-pig. My full name is Inori." She reminded.

"Then stop calling me forehead. My name's Sakurako." The young girl admonished as well.

Inori and Sakurako, the respective daughters of Ino and Sakura were currently engaged in a heated argument about who would end up in Naruto's team. It was ironic how these two were fighting over being able to get in the same team as Sasuke's son. But Naruto paid no attention and kept looking out into the playground next to the window.

"Alright you two, quieten down." The black haired sensei ordered. "It's time to announce your teams."

At once pin drop silence permeated through the entire room as the students looked unflinchingly at their sensei.

"Okay then, first team will consist of Sakurako, Ken and Torune." She reported out loud.

The black coloured dog on top of Ken's head did a back flip at the news. Ken was the son of Kiba and Kuromaru was his partner ninken. The hooded young man Torune made no response and remained silent. Just like his father Shino, Torune was rather introverted. Perhaps it was a heritage of their clan.

"HAH, you are with doggieboy and insectboy." Inori started to smack the table with her left fist while holding her stomach with her right hand to stop her laughter.

"SHUT UP!" Her rival yelled in annoyance. The Sakurako was most certainly not happy, but this was even more of a chance for the blonde to rub it in.

"I'm about to be on Naruto's team." Inori put some salt on the wound.

"You two seriously, stop with your bickering." Their sensei ordered once again. "Actually to answer your question, Inori you are with Shikari and Chouko."

The statement left Inori completely shattered.

"No…but why?" She asked in disbelief.

"I can't believe you didn't see this one coming." Shikari, a young girl with a pineapple like hairstyle sighed. "We are Ino-Shika-Chou after all. Of course we are going to be on the same team. It's a tradition between our clans."

Just like her father Shikamaru, Shikari was very smart but also very cunning like her mother.

"I did hear that from my father that we would be in the same team." The girl sitting next to Shikari added while stuffing her face with a bag of crisps.

Chouko shared the same form and habits as her father Chouji. In fact, her personality was also very much simplistic and loyal just like his.

"But I don't want to be on this team…I want to be on Naruto's team." Inori complained in a defeated tone.

"Well…deal with it." Shikari leaned against her chair casually.

"Anyway, moving on to the next team." Asuna cleared her throat. "We have Juri, Hizashi and Litchi."

"Interesting." Hizashi whispered to himself.

"Guess we are on the same team bro." Litchi said to her brother sitting on the table across.

Hizashi and Litchi were siblings only a year apart. Hizashi took after their father Neji in regards to both personality and physical traits while Litchi took after their mother Tenten.

"Let's do our best, FRIENDS!" Juri screamed out from across the classroom, making everyone jump up in their seats. Juri most certainly took after her father Lee in every aspect imaginable.

"Y-yea…" Litchi didn't know what to make out of her new teammate's enthusiasm.

"Perhaps…not so interesting." Hizashi shook his head in embarrassment.

"Glad to see you three already starting to get along, but it's time for the next announcement." Asuna advised with a smile.

Hinata was looking around and to her surprise almost everyone else were assigned a team, but not Naruto, or her. She couldn't help but hope for the best.

"Next up we have Naruto." Her sensei read out. "This is quite a peculiar matchup."

Hinata's heart instantly started racing. What could be so peculiar about his matchup? Probably not her. But her hopes were still hanging in the balance.

At the same time, Naruto paid attention for the first time once his name was called out.

"Wow, I haven't personally ever seen anything like this." Asuna looked questioningly at the paper she was holding.

Hinata's body was on the edge of her seat. Why couldn't her teacher just announce it already?

"But how does this make sense?" Asuna asked herself. "I mean…"

"SERIOUSLY, can you just SAY IT ALREADY!" Naruto stood up having lost his patience. "I mean GEEZ, how long do you intend to drag it out?"

"Ah sorry about that." Asuna rubbed her head feeling silly. "Naruto…you won't be in a traditional squad of three. Instead, you will be in a special two man team with Hinata."

The entire class gasped at the announcement. They had heard nothing like it before. But at the same time they also heard something else. It was someone dropping to the floor. Hinata was out cold.

Hinata felt cold sprinkles of water on her face, causing her to sit upright as soon as she regained consciousness. To her surprise, the position her face was in right now was only a few inches away from Naruto's. Just seeing him in such close proximity caused her cheeks to almost explode from the redness. She flailed her head around haphazardly like a maniac and collided with Naruto's forehead, knocking each other to the ground.

"Ita-ta-ta…" Naruto rubbed his forehead while picking himself off the ground.

"I-I'm really sorry." Hinata started to apologise over and over again once she managed to regain her composure somewhat.

"It's alright really. Just calm yourself." Naruto didn't ever see the otherwise shy girl this flustered before. In fact, he didn't know very much about her as she always kept a low profile, unlike the other girls who tended to be loud and rambunctious. Naruto was never very fond of those types of girls and on hindsight he felt somewhat relieved he didn't end up with any of them, otherwise it could have been a real pain. Since he and Hinata were going to be teammates now, it only made sense for him to find out a bit more about her. He knew she was the hokage's daughter, but that was about it. So some more information would definitely be nice. That said something more important needed to be done. "We do need to start heading towards the meeting place with our new Jounin instructor."

At his suggestion Hinata took a moment to survey her surroundings and found out that all the other students had already left.

"H-Has everyone already left?" She asked somewhat nervously, feeling she has already been making a bad impression on Naruto by holding him back. It started to make her feel terrible.

"Yeah. I was just waiting for you to wake up."

"I-I'm really sorry." She could only just apologise even more.

"Hey, never mind that. Let's just be on our way and if we hurry, we should be able to make it by our appointed time." He gestured her to get a move on.

"Of course, but where are we meant to meet up with our teacher again?" She felt stupid for missing out on such vital information, but since she fainted earlier, there wasn't anything she could do at this point.

"Training field 3 is our destination. We have 15 minutes. We gotta skedaddle."

Naruto and Hinata both jumped through the nearby window and took to the rooftops to make their way to the training field as fast as they could.

"So Hinata, I was hoping you wouldn't mind telling me a little about yourself." Naruto enquired while they travelled to their destination. "I mean we will be on the same team after all. Hope I'm not sounding creepy or anything."

Naruto was kind of surprised at himself for acting the way he was acting towards Hinata. Normally if it was any other loud and obnoxious girl, he would just ignore them or tell them to not bother him, but he was genuinely intrigued to know more about this reserved girl. Of all the people he knew from his class, he was kind of glad that it was her rather than the more arrogant or annoying kids.

"N-Not at all. I can tell you but there's not much interesting to know about m-me." Hinata started twiddling her index fingers, not knowing exactly what to say. "W-What do you want to know?"

"Anything really. I mean I know you are the daughter of the hokage at least. I think everyone knows that. But some other information would be nice. Like your abilities, clan specific or not. Those things are pretty helpful to know when you are on the same team."

"In that case, my father is Sarutobi Konohamaru and my other is Hyuga Hanabi. I have two big brothers, but I'm the only one amongst my siblings who has inherited the Hyuga's bloodline, the Byakugan." Hinata explained.

"The Byakugan? So you mean those white eyes, right? I have heard a bit about them before but now that I see it up close, it is certainly quite interesting. So what can they do?" Naruto was very curious about this information.

"Well, first of all it allows us to be able to see through objects for a rather long distance. So it's really helpful for recon purposes. But we can also use it to see tenketsu in a person's body. With the ability to see such pressure points, we have an entire branch of taijutsu exclusive to the Hyuga clan known as the gentle fist that can be used to block tenketsu and stop someone from using any ninjutsus entirely." She explained quite succinctly.

"Wow…that sounds pretty cool. I guess there is a reason why the Hyuga are known as the strongest clan in Konoha. Glad to have you on the team." Naruto gave her a thumbs up to show his appreciation. "I thought the Hyugas could be somewhat stern from having come across a few, but you seem nice."

"You f-flatter me." Hinata couldn't help but divert her gaze away. She didn't expect Naruto to compliment her.

"Oh, by the way, what do you want me to call you? Hinata-san? Actually that sounds a bit too formal. Hinata-chan maybe?" Naruto explored the possibilities.

"J-Just Hinata will be fine." She insisted.

"Alright, that's cool with me. Then you can call me Naruto."

"I-I can't do that." Hinata's brain resisted the idea of calling him directly by his name for some reason. "I t-think I'll stick to Naruto-kun."

"That's not fa…oh well. Call me whatever you prefer." Naruto decided to not make the shy girl's life any more difficult.

"Thank you." Hinata was relieved. "But you haven't told me more about yourself."

"Oh yeah, how could I forget?" Naruto rubbed his head feeling a bit silly. "My father is Uchiha Sasuke and my mother is Uzumaki Karin. Since I'm an Uchiha, I have also inherited one of the three great doujutsu, the Sharingan. Unfortunately the Sharingan only seems to activate under very specific conditions, and I personally haven't activated it yet. That is why my father tells me to focus on the Uzumaki side of my heritage, which gives the people of my kind larger reserves and increased life force in general when compared to most ninja."

"Y-You are already really strong Naruto-kun. You were known as the strongest in our class. I'm sure you will only get stronger."

"Well I'll try. I guess since we are a team now, we will both have to do our best." Naruto landed in front of the entrance leading to the training field. "I guess time really does fly when you are getting to know someone you appreciate. It seems we are here and just in time as well. Let's get to the meeting point."

Hinata nodded in agreement.

Although the two of them were five minutes early, they found that someone was already present at the training field. This person was standing on top of the middle wooden post.

"It seems my disciples have arrived." Yuhi dramatically did a backflip from the top of the wooden post and landed gracefully on her legs. "I was very excited about meeting my team for the first time, so I got here extra early."

"YUHI-NEESAMA!" Hinata gasped in shock.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Back it up a bit." Naruto still couldn't believe what he just heard. "YUHI-ONEESAN, YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU ARE OUR SENSEI?"

"Well yeah but I guess since you put it that way, it's not like we haven't met before." Yuhi rubbed the back of her head nonchalantly. She tried to make things dramatic, but it wasn't going to be that way since Yuhi has known both of the kids for a long time. Naruto was the son of her sensei and as such she knew him rather well from all the visits. On the other hand Hinata was her direct family, being her cousin, and as such they spent a lot of time together.

"No kidding." Both Naruto and Hinata said at the same time.

"Oh well, I guess if we look at the bright side of things, we can skip introductions?" Yuhi tilted her head slightly at an angle to get her question across.

"I think the better question is why you are our sensei in the first place?" Naruto asked. "Also, why are we in a two man team when normally you have three man squads?"

"Good questions and the answers are related. Of course we Jounins talk to the hokage in detail about each student's strengths and weaknesses and how they would fit in a team with others, as well as whom the best instructor for them would be. I personally asked the hokage to let me have the two of you as my students because I believe I can bring the best out of the two of you. The hokage agreed with me without a shadow of a doubt, and so here we are." Yuhi explained the details some more. "Plus there's a very important special characteristic that the three of us share as a unit."

"Hmmm…I guess it kind of makes sense that you would be a good teacher for us since you know us so well. But what particular specialty do we share amongst ourselves?"

"I'm glad you asked." Yuhi smiled at the two children in front of her. "As you should know, you two possess two of the three great eye techniques amongst yourselves. Hinata has the Byakugan while you Naruto have the Sharingan, even though it remains latent at the time being."

"So, what's so special about that?" Naruto was somewhat confused at the development.

"The special part is the fact that the two of you have TWO of the THREE great doujutsu. That leaves the third great doujutsu out of the equation, but our team has three members right now."

"Then does that mean YOU have the third great eye technique?" Realisation finally struck Naruto. "But that's impossible. From what I've heard, the last of the three great eyes are objects of legend. Only extremely special people are blessed with those eyes. It's rarer than rare. And from what I see, you have the same eyes as Hinata there, Yuhi-oneesan."

"That is where you would be wrong…" Yuhi slowly turned around from her students and started to do something to her eyes with her hands that the other two couldn't see.

Both Naruto and Hinata gulped hard at the prospects of what they were about to witness. To be able to see the legendary third doujutsu was nothing short of a miracle for most.

"Witness…the greatest of all keke genkai. This is…" Yuhi suddenly turned around and opened her eyes wide, "THE BYAKU-SHARINGAN!"

"BAKA!" Both Naruto and Hinata hit her right in the head and sent her straight to the ground. They couldn't believe she would pull something so stupid on them after acting all serious like that. But then again, she was always like this since the time they knew her.

"AH, what the heck? Now my contacts have been displaced and my eyes are all itchy." She started to vigorously rub her eyes to get her contact lenses out, but unfortunately for her, they had already slipped under her eyelids. "Do you know how friggin expensive these contacts are? I had them custom made. And I also got the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan design as well. I thought most people would brick themselves if they saw the Sharingan on top of the Byakugan, but it doesn't seem to work."

"Of course it doesn't work. What kind of an idiot would fall for something so stupid?" Naruto turned away from her in disappointment.

"Wait, I can't get them out. THEY'RE UNDER MY EYELIDS!" Yuhi went into full on panic mode at this point. "I DON'T WANT TO GET EYE SURGERY! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY PRECIOUS EYES! HELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

She started running in circles around the wooden posts like a chicken with its head cut off.

"I-I think we should help her." Hinata suggested.

"I was thinking of leaving her and making a run for it, but I guess that would be a bit harsh." Naruto extended his feet in Yuhi's path, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. "Just lightly rub your eyelids for a bit and they should come out eventually."

Yuhi decided to follow his instructions and rub both of her eyelids simultaneously until the contact lenses came out. Once they did, she threw them on to the ground and kept stomping on them vigorously.

"I'm NEVER gonna wear contacts again." She proclaimed while tears flowed from her eyes out of misery. "It's not like I wanted to use the Sharingan in the first place. It's not like I wanted to use amazing genjutsu, or light things up in black flames, or use flaming crossbows, swords and all sorts of overpowered techniques. It's not like I wanted to use any of them at all."

"I-It seems like you wanted to use all of those really bad." Hinata sweat dropped at Yuhi's contradicting statements and actions.

Having disposed of her dreaded contacts and wiped her tears of sorrow, Yuhi finally turned towards her students to continue the conservation.

"Sorry you had to witness that." Yuhi said with a straight face. "I guess it's time we got down to business."

"What could that possibly mean?" Naruto wasn't really having too much high hopes right now.

"I think it is time I taught you two the ULTIMATE technique." Yuhi announced.

"The ultimate technique?" Naruto still didn't know whether to believe her or not.

"Indeed. It is a technique available for all to learn, but only a handful in the history of the ninja world have truly mastered its true potential." Yuhi stated boldly. "In fact, my father, the sixth hokage was a pioneer in this technique. With it, he achieved the greatest of feats."

At this point both Naruto and Hinata were at the tip of their feet. They knew, as did the rest of Konoha and the entire ninja world about the legacy of the sixth hokage. In fact, the sixth hokage wasn't just the hokage of the leaf village, but rather he was a legend of the entire ninja world. And if this was a technique that allowed him to achieve such great feats, then it was beyond their imaginations.

"Show me, SHOW ME!" Naruto was almost about to cry from excitement.

"Alright then, prepare yourself, for I am about to teach you…" Yuhi declared decisively.

* * *

What do you think Yuhi is going to teach them? Think crazy. Think out of the box. Think about something that Naruto always does that we wish he didn't do so often. If someone manages to guess it, I will give you MAD props.

Also, I don't know how many of you wear or have worn contacts, but oh my goodness does it feel horrible if your contacts end up below your eyelids. That whole thing I wrote was from personal experience lol since I used to wear contacts regularly a while back.

That's about it for now. I will see you next time as always.


End file.
